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Andrew Lang
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Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
Andrew Lang was born in Selkirk, Scotland on 31 March 1844. He was the son of John Lang and Jane Plenderleath Sellar. He was the eldest child with seven younger siblings.
Andrew attended St. Andrew's University, in Scotland, and later Balliol College at Oxford University, studying Classics.
Andrew was recorded in the 1871 England Census, as a visitor of his maternal relatives in London, England.
On 13 April 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Alleyne, in Clifton, Christchurch, Gloucestershire, England. They settled in London. However, by 1891, they moved back to Scotland, relocating to St. Andrews, Fifeshire.
Andrew became a prolific writer, focusing primarily on folklore and mythology. He is, perhaps, best known for The Blue Fairy Book which began his series of twelve different coloured Fairy Books, written, with the assistance of his wife, between 1889-1910.
J.R.R. Tolkien was a fan of the Fairy Books, saying: “None rival either the popularity, or the inclusiveness, or the general merits of the twelve books of twelve colours which we owe to Andrew Lang and to his wife".
In 1906, he was elected Fellow of the British Academy.
Andrew had many hobbies; he was an avid book collector, golfer and fisherman.
At the Tor-na-Coille Hotel, on 20 July 1912, in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Andrew died of heart failure. He is buried in St. Andrew's Cathederal in St. Andrews, Fifeshire, Scotland. His wife, Leonora, died on 10 July 1933, in Kensington, Middlesex, England, leaving the family fortune to her niece, Thyra Blanche Alleyne.
Andrew's library was sold through Sotheby auctions. All books sold in the auction, included a small bookplate with the following message:
From the Library of ANDREW LANG. Sold by Messrs. Sotheby. Dec.5th, 6th, 1912
UPEI's Provenance copy of Cameos and other poems, by Florence G. Attenborough, was part of Andrew Lang's book collection, sold at Sotheby's auction and possibly purchased by A.J. Bell, whose signature is also in the book. The dedication in the book reads:
To- Andrew Lang Esqr.
A tribute of admiration from the Authoress.
March 31st
Sources:
1871 England Census. Class: RG10; Piece: 52; Folio: 22; Page: 35; GSU roll: 824571.
1881 England Census. Class: RG11; Piece: 51; Folio: 87; Page: 1; GSU roll: 1341011
1891 Scotland Census. Parish: St Andrews; ED: 6; Page: 12; Line: 12; Roll: CSSCT1891_139
1901 England Census. Class: RG13; Piece: 38; Folio: 47; Page: 1
1901 Scotland Census Parish: Ardchattan and Muckairn; ED: 8; Page: 6; Line: 22; Roll: CSSCT1901_182
“Andrew Lang” Find A Grave, Memorial# 93179523, accessed April 4, 2016.
“Andrew Lang” The Folio Society, accessed April 4, 2016.
England, Bristol Parish Registers. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England. Leonora Blanche Lang; death date 10 July 1933, Middlesex England; probate date 10 August 1933, London England., Leonora Blanche Alleyne, John Lang, Jane Plenderleath Sellar
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Angie Clara Chapin
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Angie Clara Chapin (1855-1937)
Angie Clara Chapin was born on 7 April 1855 in Auburn, Michigan to Sarah J. Brown and George P. Chapin. She was an only child. According to the 1860 census, her father was a grocer. They lived in Auburn, in the same neighbourhood, until sometime after 1900.
In 1871, Angie started her postsecondary education at the University of Michigan. She graduated in 1875 with a Bachelor of Arts, making her one of the first women from her hometown to pursue a career in academia. Soon after Angie graduated, she became a member of the Literary Department at Flint High School, and remained in that position until 1879.
In 1879, Angie became a teacher at Wellesley College to fulfill the need for a Greek scholar. Angie quickly excelled at Wellesley College, she was described as “one of Wellesley's beloved and outstanding teachers; a devoted classicist and a charming gentlewoman." (Auburn 13021: Angie Clara Chapin). By 1887, she was given a full professorship. In 1901, Angie became a professor of Greek Language and Literature. She was also the head of the Classics department from 1887-1919. Angie would also be the acting Dean of Wellesley College from 1911-1913.
In 1886, she became one of the first female commissioners of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and, in 1906, became the first female member of the School.
Angie was also an avid member of her community. She was a pioneer of co-education, an advocate for equal rights for women, and was key to the development of the classical department at Wellesley College.
In 1914, Angie left the United States with the intent of travelling through Italy and Greece. During her travels the Great War broke out leaving her no choice but to go back to the United States. In order to get back into the country, Angie had to fill out an emergency passport application. On the application she describes herself as being 5’4”, with a small mouth, a medium forehead, a flat chin, brown eyes, hair that was originally brown but was turning grey, with a ruddy complexion, a straight nose, and an oval face.
By 1920 Clara, age 64, was living on Morris Crescent, Yonkers, Westchester, New York. The Census lists her as “partner" to head of the home, Jesse A. Seeley. Ms. Seeley was a public school teacher in Yonkers. Although we may jump to conclusions about two women living as partners, it really just indicates that they were sharing equal partnership in the renting of the home. The rules for the 1920 enumerators explained that, “If two or more persons share a common abode as partners, write head for one and partners for the other".
Within the following decade, Angie Chapin moved back to her home state. In the 1930 census, she was living as a lodger on Packard Street, Ann Arbor Michigan. The owner of the home was retired clergyman, LeRoy N. Pattison (age 81). Living with him was his daughter Josephine, (age 53) who had trained as a nurse, his sister Martha L. Sturnberg (age 87), and two boarders, Angie (age 75) and Ellen R. Davis (age 86).
On 27 August 1937, Angie Clara Chapin passed away. She was buried next to her parents in Auburn’s Fort Hill Cemetery.
The UPEI Provenance Collection contains a book once gifted to Angie Clara Chapin. Poetae Lyrici Graeci Minores, by Theodore Bergk, includes Constance Virginia Carter’s bookplate, “Virtus Vera Nobilitas,” and is inscribed with “Angie Clara Chapin. Christmas 1896. (K.M.E.)”.
Other books in the UPEI Provenance Collection:
Feyerabend, Karl. A Pocket Dictionary of the Greek and English Languages. Johannesburg: Hermann Michaelis, 1910. [Constance Virginia Carter’s bookplate, “Virtus Vera Nobilitas.” Also inscribed “A.C. Chapin.”]
Herbert, George. The Poems of George Herbert. Oxford University Press, 1912. [Constance Virginia Carter’s bookplate “Virtus Vera Nobilitas.” Also inscribed “For Dear Miss Chapin With many happy memories and love from Dorothy Bruce, ‘26 210 Roland Ave, Baltimore. Pemaquid Point September, 1927."]
Mommsen, August. Griechische Jahreszeiten. Schleswig: Julius Bergas, 1875. [Library of Wellesley College bookplate. Also inscribed “A. C. Chapin. 1899.” With a newsclipping and some notes.]
Sources:
1860 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Adrian Ward 4, Lenawee, Michigan; Roll: M653_551; Page: 400; Image: 402; Family History Library Film: 803551.
1900 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Auburn Ward 10, Cayuga, New York; Roll: 1012; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0021; FHL microfilm: 1241012.
1920 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Yonkers Ward 1, Westchester, New York; Roll: T625_1279; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 210; Image: 759
1930 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan; Roll: 1029; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0013; Image: 432.0; FHL microfilm:2340764.
Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950. Year: 1937. Place: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan, USA. File No. 006282. Death Records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.
Calendar of the University of Michigan for 1871-2. Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1872.
Fourteenth Census of the United States. Taken in the Year 1920. Vol. II. Population 1920. General Report and Analytical Tables. Available at Google Books.
The Michigan Alumnus: Volume XXXIII October 9, 1926-September 10, 1927. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, 1927.
“Angie Clara Chapin.” Auburn 13021. Published: 30 April 2010. Accessed on 4 August 2016.
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. Year: 1914. Selected Passports. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
“History of the Office.” Wellesley College: Wellesley College Archives. Accessed 4 August 2016.
Wellesley College, Report of the President 1914-1915 (1916). Presidents' Reports. Book 19.
Wellesley College, Report of the President 1918-1919 (1919). Presidents' Reports. Book 16.
Photo:
Photo from Michigan Historical Collections , “Angie Chapin,” A Dangerous Experiment: Women at the University of Michigan, accessed 17 March 2017., George P. Chapin, Sarah J. Brown
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Annie L. McGrath
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Annie L. McGrath (1881-1953)
Annie Laura McGrath was born on 11 June 1881 in Norway, Prince Edward Island. She was the daughter of John McGrath and Catherine Nelligan, who were married on 25 February 1862 in Tignish, PEI. John and Catherine were devout Catholic parents of twelve children: James, Maurice, John, Mary, Margaret, Gustavus, Frank, Nellie, Nettie, Annie, Joseph and Ella. Three of those children dedicated their lives to the Church: one priest and two nuns.
Annie devoted her life to education. She graduated from Prince of Wales College in 1911, and then moved to Halifax to obtain her Bachelor of Arts degree from Dalhousie University. The 16 September 1913 edition of The Charlottetown Guardian reads:
Miss Annie L. McGrath left Tignish Saturday, en route to Halifax, to attend Dalhousie College. She intends to spend a few days with her brother Dr. McGrath in Bloomfield.
After graduating from Dalhousie, she returned home and became a professor of English and Botany at Prince of Wales College. Annie's sister, Ella Mae McGrath, was also employed at the College, teaching Commerce.
Annie has been described as “plain, dark-haired... tall and thin", “exceptionally bright" and “a lovely person, kind and nice" (Bruce, 124).
In 1922, at the age of 41, Annie married Samuel Napier Robertson, the Principal of Prince of Wales College. At this time, as was the custom, Annie resigned from her teaching post. Together, they lived at 113 Upper Prince Street, in Charlottetown.
Annie was a devoted Catholic and her husband was a Protestant; they each attended their own Church on Sundays. After Samuel's death in 1937, Annie made arrangements to be buried beside her husband in the Protestant Cemetery in Sherwood (now within the borders of Charlottetown), when the time came.
In 1951, Annie McGrath Robertson was given an Honourary Life Membership for the Prince of Wales College Alumni. She died in 1953.
The Robertson Library is named in honour of Annie's husband, Samuel Napier Robertson.
UPEI's Provenance copy of the Sir Walter Scott novel, Marmion, includes Annie's signature and lots of marginalia (notes on content) throughout the book.
Other books in the Provenance Collection:
Greenidge, A.H.J. Roman Public Life. London: MacMillan and Co., Ltd., 1922. [Includes Stamp: Donated to St. Dunstan's College Library By [In script: Mrs. S. Robertson]]
Sources:
1891 Census of Canada. Census Place: Lot 1, Prince, Prince Edward Island; Roll: T-6382; Family No: 71
Baptismal record of Annie Laura McGrath found at PEI Public Archives and Record Office (PARO) online. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
Bruce, Marion. A Century of Excellence: Prince of Wales College, 1860-1969 (Charlottetown: Island Studies Press, 2005), 124-125.
Bruce, Marion C. “Samuel Napier Robertson", Dictionary of Canadian Biography XVI (1931-1940).
“Western Personals". The Charlottetown Guardian, 16 September 1913, p. 8. Accessed from Island Newspapers on 16 April 2016.
Notes:
Some information was provided by Janette Fraser, a Nelligan descendant.
Photo:
Photo courtesy of UPEI Archives: Prince of Wales College- Class Photographs Gallery (1914-1915), Samuel Napier Robertson, John McGrath, Catherine Nelligan
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Eben Norton Horsford
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Eben Norton Horsford (1818-1893)
Eben Norton Horsford, born 27 July 1818, was the son of Mary and, U.S. Congressman, Jerediah Horsford. Jerediah was also a missionary to the Seneca Indians of New York and became an expert in their language. Eben Norton Horsford took a different direction in his occupation and received a civil engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1838. In 1840 E.N. Horsford became a professor of Mathematics and Science at the Albany Female Academy, where he would meet his future wives, Mary Gardiner and her sister Phoebe Gardiner.
In 1844, Horsford moved to Giessen Germany to study with renowned chemist Justus von Liebig. This education led to a position at Harvard University where he was chosen as the Rumford Professor and Lecturer on the Application of Science to the Useful Arts. For sixteen years he taught chemistry and conducted research at the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard where he published articles in major scientific publications on such topics as phosphates, condensed milk, fermentation, and emergency rations.
Upon his acceptance as a Harvard professor, Mary L’Hommedieu Gardiner's father consented to the marriage of his daughter to Eben. They were married in 1847 and had four daughters: Mary Leila (Lilian) in 1848, Mary Catherine (Kate) in 1850, Gertrude Hubbard in 1852, and Mary Gardiner (Mamie) in 1855. Mary died a few months after the birth of Mamie and E.N. Horsford then married Mary’s sister Phoebe in 1857. E.N. and Phoebe had one daughter, Cornelia Conway Felton, in 1860.
E.N. joined forces, in 1854, with businessman George F. Wilson and started the company Rumford Chemical Works, which would commercially produce Horsford’s chemical inventions. Horsford is most widely remembered for creating baking powder and changing the culinary landscape. In 2006 this discovery was designated as a (U.S.) National Historic Chemical Landmark. E.N. also produced acid phosphate, yeast powder, and developed a process for manufacturing condensing milk. These developments have awarded him the moniker “Father of American Food Technology". Horsford was also involved in the American Civil War and tried to develop an “improved army ration” with dehydrated meat. In 1864 he wrote The Army Ration: How to diminish its weight and bulk, secure economy in its administration, avoid waste, and increase the comfort, efficiency, and mobility of the troops. Although his ideas were lauded, nothing came of his suggestions.
As a father of five girls and a husband to consecutively highly educated wives, Horsford was an adamant supporter of female education. He became a strong supporter of Wellesley College in Massachusetts. In 1877 he was president of the Wellesley College Board of Visitors and an honorary member of the Class of 1886. He donated money for books, scientific apparatus, and began a pension fund for the college.
Later in his life the theory of Vikings in America captured his interest. He spent significant time, and money, on searching for the “lost” city of Norumbega, which he believed was a settlement of Viking explorers located in present Weston, Massachusetts. He also commissioned the statue of Leif Ericson that still stands on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. E.N. wrote endlessly on the topic of Vikings discovery and settlement in America, but historians give little credit to his “discoveries" today. On 1 January 1893, Eben Norton Horsford died at his home in Cambridge.
UPEI's copy of, Indian Legends and other Poems, was written by E.N. Horsford's first wife, Mary Gardiner Horsford. It was published in 1855, the same year that Mary died (25 Nov 1855), so we know this is not her signature, as the inscription is dated May 10, 1856. The signature does match her husband's, Eben Norton Horsford, as proven by numerous U.S. Passport applications. Eben gave the book, as a gift, to his Harvard University colleague, Benjamin Apthorp Gould. The inscription reads:
Dr. B.A. Gould, With the affectionate regards of Horsford.
Bibliography:
American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks. Development of Baking Powder.
(accessed October 5, 2015), 27 July 1818, Livingston County, New York, 1 January 1893, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1. Mary Gardiner (author), Jerediah Horsford, Maria C. ?, Maria Horsford (married name Byum), Julia Horsford (Norton), Eliza Horsford (Tryon), and Laura Horsford., 1st 1847, 2nd 1857, Mary Leila (Lilian) 1848, Mary Catherine (Kate) 1850, Gertrude Hubbard 1852, Mary Gardiner (Mamie) 1855, Cornelia Conway Felton, 1860., 2. Phoebe Gardiner
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George Egerton
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George Egerton (1859-1945)
Mary Chavelita Dunne was born on the 14th of December 1859, in Australia. Her father was John J. Dunne, an Irish Catholic army officer, and her mother was Isabel George, a Welsh Protestant. Mary’s childhood was an international experience. She lived in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Germany and Ireland. At age 14, Mary’s mother passed away, and Mary turned her interests towards nursing. She eventually worked in hospitals in London, England, and New York.
In 1886, Mary returned to Ireland as Charlotte Whyte Melville’s travelling companion and Charlotte’s husband, Henry Peter Higginson, was with them. Mary and Henry fell in love and eloped to Norway the following year. They were married in 1888, but the marriage lasted only one year.
Mary’s time in Norway was a turning point in her literary career. She learned the Norwegian language and devoured the works of Ola Hansson, Knut Hamsun, Henrik Isben, Friedrich Nietzsche, Knut Pedersen and August Strindberg. She became involved in local literary circles and surrounded herself with Norwegian authors and artists. Mary became a translator for many Norwegian authors, including Knut Hamsun and Ola Hansson. The UPEI Provenance Collection book Young Ofeg’s Ditties, by Hansson was translated by George Egerton.
Mary returned to Ireland and her second marriage, on 30 November 1891 to Egerton Tertius Clairmonte, explains her pseudonym. “George” was in honour of her mother, whose maiden name was George, and Egerton was her husband’s first name.
George’s first literary work, Keynotes, was published in 1893. This work was a radical departure from Victorian feminine literature. The book promoted female sexual liberty and fulfilment and broke down barriers of female class and the conventional moral definitions associated with each class. As one would guess, in 1893, this would cause sensational ripples around the literary world. George was pegged as the leader of the “new woman” movement. According to Lisa Hager's paper, “A Community of Women: Women's Agency and Sexuality in George Egerton's Keynotes and Discords”:
Egerton’s New Women constantly push at the edges of the roles Victorian society provides for them as they move toward a space that allows for the expression of their own desires, not the desires that men would grant them. They move towards freely expressing their sexual desires in reciprocal romantic relationships and becoming agents in directing their own lives.
In April 1894, Punch magazine parodied George’s work. She was caricatured as Donna Quixote. In the drawing she sits on a chair with a key raised in her right hand and reading an open book in her left. She sits with legs wide apart and her feet resting on books, one with the name Tolstoi on it. Around her are numerous books and traditionally masculine roles, represented by women (a female soldier, a female knight and a mythical feminine warrior). The only clear male figure is a bearded head with the words “Tyrant Man” on his forehead. Below the picture is a Don Quixote quote, mildly altered: “A world of disorderly notions picked out of books, crowded into his (her) imagination”.
This satirical picture is based on artist Gustave Doré's first plate in the 1863 illustrated edition of Don Quixote.
The parody was obvious to it’s viewers. The key, a traditional phallic symbol, was held in possession by a woman, and the self assertive open-legged stance showed George as sexually available, but still in control of her own sexuality. George Egerton challenged the Victorian moral code. The meek, compliant, sexual subservient Victorian lady, regardless of financial status, was now encouraged to claim their own key and take ownership of their own body and mind.
The marriage between George and Clairmonte did not last. The petition for divorce stated that the Respondent [Clairmonte] had been “guilty of Adultery coupled with desertion of the said Petitioner [G. Egerton] for two years and upwards without reasonable excuse”. The divorce was made final on 18 February 1901.
On 11 July 1901, George married drama critic Reginald Golding Bright. They lived, for many years, at 59 Ridgemount Gardens in London. This relationship might have been the impetus for George trying her hand as a playwright. Only one (His Wife’s Family) of her three plays made it to the stage.
All in all, George Egerton wrote four short story anthologies, two novels, three plays and was the translator of numerous books and theatre scripts.
George did have one son as a result of her second marriage, to Egerton Clairmonte. George Egerton Clairmonte was born on 24 November 1895 at the Rectory Cottage, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge University in 1914 and immediately went to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst. He became a 2nd lieutenant and 1st class machine gun instructor. George went to France on 13 June 1915 and joined the machine gun section of his regiment. He was killed in action by a bullet to the head on 26 September 1915. He was 19 years old. George's Commanding Officer wrote his mother with the following words:
Your son was a very good officer, much liked by his men and absolutely fearless; he seemed to enjoy every moment he was out here. He died fighting gallantly... He will be difficult to replace, and is a real loss to the regiment. He was killed in Bois Hugo...
George Egerton died on 12 August 1945 in Sussex, England. The obituary of “Mrs. Golding Bright” brings to light the essence of her radical literature:
George Egerton's death brings back to mind the so-called 'new woman' school of fiction of the nineties in which the 'problems' of the relations of the sexes for the first time in English literature were put before a somewhat bewildered Victorian public.
The letter that is within UPEI’s Provenance Collection, is in a copy of Young Ofeg’s Ditties, translated by George Egerton, it reads:
Chesham
Bucks.
Dec 15th ‘900
Dear Sir,
It is kind of you to remember my birthday always. Last year your good wishes followed me to Norway, too late to thank you for them-
You once wrote and asked me, I think, to write my name in a book of yours. Of course if it could be any gratification to you I shall be pleased to do so. With many thanks for your courtesy.
I am
Yours faithfully
“George Egerton”
The first signature in the book is “Thomas Hutchinson, No.3976”. We can way say, with much certainty, that Thomas Hutchinson is the “Dear Sir” that George Egerton refers to. Thomas regularly wrote authors and cherished their replies, often gluing them directly into the book, such as in Young Ofeg’s Ditties.
Sources:
Dutta, Shanta. “George Egerton: Redefining Woman in ‘Victorian’ Patriarchy.” In Moneta's Veil. Essays on nineteenth century literature. edited by Malabika Sarkar, 23-33. India: Dorling Kindersley, 2010.
Hager, Lisa. “A Community of Women: Women's Agency and Sexuality in George Egerton's Keynotes and Discords”, Nineteenth Century Gender Studies, 2:2 (Summer 2006).
Stetz, Margaret Diane. “George Egerton: Woman and Writer of the Eighteen Nineties.” Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, 1982., 1. Henry Peter Higginson, 2. Egerton Tertius Clairmonte, 3. Reginald Golding Bright, George Egerton Clairmonte 1895-1915, John J. Dunne, Isabel George
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Kate Douglas Riggs
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Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin Riggs (1856-1923)
Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin Riggs was born on 28 September 1856 in Philadelphia, to Robert Nash Smith, a lawyer, and Helen Dyer, later Helen Bradbury. Kate is well known as the author of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” but not as many people realize she was a champion of children's rights and, in particular, free education.
She was quite young when her father died, and her mother, Helen, moved them to Portland, and then Hollis, Maine. Helen remarried to Albion Bradbury and had a son, Philip. Kate studied at Abbot Academy in Andover MA and enjoyed the rural life in Hollis, Maine but in 1873, as a result of her step-father's lung disease, the young family moved to Santa Barbara, California.
Kate took a kindergarten training course in Los Angeles under the instruction of Emma Marwedel, the German founder of the Kindergarten movement in the United States. In 1878, Kate and her sister Nora, started the Silver Street Free Kindergarten, the first free kindergarten in San Francisco, California. They also began their own training school for kindergarten teachers.
Women were required to give up teaching jobs once they were married, so when Kate married Bradley Wiggin in 1881, she stopped teaching at the Silver Street Kindergarten but remained financially supportive. To raise funds Kate began a writing career and gave the proceeds from her stories to the school. Her fundraising stories were The Story of Patsy, written in 1883, and The Birds' Christmas Carol, written in 1887.
In 1888, Kate and Bradley moved from San Francisco to New York but when Bradley died the following year, Kate left New York and moved to her childhood State of Maine. She spent the next seven years rather quietly. She travelled whenever she could and worked on her writing.
In 1895, she married a second time to George Christopher Riggs, who was very supportive of her writing career. She kept her pen name as Kate Douglas Riggs; her output more than tripled and her success flourished. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and it's sequel New Chronicles of Rebecca would be her most well-known work.
Kate also wrote a delightful childhood memoir about a discussion she had with Charles Dickens, at the tender age of eleven. A Child's Journey with Dickens.
On Kate's 1919 US Passport Application her “purpose" for the Passport is listed as Necessary business with book publishers. Her signature on the document matches the signature in the UPEI Provenance copy of Ormond. A Tale:
UPEI's Provenance copy of Ormond. A Tale, is not authored by Kate. Instead, it is a book from her own personal collection, written by Maria Edgeworth, one of the first “realist writers” in children's literature.
On 24 August 1923, Kate died of bronchial pneumonia in Harrow-on-the-Hill, London, England, while she was attending the Dickens Fellowship as a New York delegate. Her ashes were returned to Maine and and scattered over the Saco River.
Kate's autobiography, My Garden of Memory, was published just months after her death.
Sources:
1880 United States Federal Census. Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 75; Family History Film: 1254075; Page: 422C; Enumeration District: 097; Image: 0545
1905 New York State Census. New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; Election District: A.D. 29 E.D. 02; City: Manhattan; County: New York; Page: 52
1910 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Manhattan Ward 22, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1045; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 1290; FHL microfilm: 1375058
California, Biographical Index Cards, 1781-1990. California State Library; Sacramento, California; Biographical Files.
“Kate Douglas Wiggin." Find A Grave. Accessed 2 March 2017.
New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937. Marriage between Kate Wiggin and George C. Riggs. Certificate number: 4921
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 862; Volume #: Roll 0862 - Certificates: 104250-104499, 08 Aug 1919-08 Aug 1919
Wiggin, Kate Douglas. A Child's Journey with Dickens, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912.
Wiggin, Kate Douglas. My Garden of Memory Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923.
Photo:
From the George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.05033., 1. Bradley Wiggin, 2. George Christopher Riggs, Robert N. Smith (lawyer), Helen Dyer (later Helen Dyer Bradbury)
