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C.E.S. Wood collection, circa 1852-1970

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Wood, Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944.
Title
C.E.S. Wood collection
Dates
circa 1852-1970 (inclusive)
1852-1944 (bulk)
Quantity
1.64 cubic feet, (2 document cases, 2 oversize folders)
Collection Number
MSS 800
Summary
Collection includes correspondence, mostly photocopies, of C.E.S. Wood and Sara Bard Field. Also included are diaries, record books, certificates, miscellaneous speeches, scripts, poems, programs, broadsides, ephemera, and photocopied excerpts from Wood's autobiographies.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

C.E.S. Wood was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on February 20, 1852 to Rosemary Carson and William Maxwell Wood. He graduated from West Point Academy and subsequently headed west in 1874 to embark on his own military career, during which he served in the Nez Perce and Bannock-Paiute campaigns. It was during this time that Wood first came to eastern Oregon and experienced a profound connection with the natural world that influenced much of his poetry and writing. Afterward, Wood earned his law degree at West Point and settled in Portland, Oregon where he joined the law firm of Durham and Ball. Wood and his wife, Nanny Moale, had five children. Wood was outspoken in his political and cultural views; he became a highly influential figure in Portland’s culture and society. He was multi-faceted; at times a pacifist, an activist, an anarchist, a libertarian, a soldier, an attorney, and a bohemian. His life was richly steeped in the world of the arts and humanities as creator and lover of art, writer, bibliophile, and gifted public speaker. His diverse writing endeavors include poems, play scripts, book reviews, and articles. His writing was often published in The Pacific Monthly, a popular Portland magazine.

Wood and his wife had been estranged for some time when Wood met Sara Bard Field Erhgott, with whom he had much in common. They shared similar political views and they both loved literature and wrote poetry. The couple moved to California, where they eventually married and lived the rest of their lives at "The Cats,” their estate named after the nearby town of Los Gatos. Wood wrote prolifically during these years. C.E.S. Wood passed away just shy of his ninety-second birthday on January 22, 1944.

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Content Description

The contents of this collection consist primarily of photocopies of documents from the Huntington Library and Stanford Library. A sizable portion of the collection consists of personal and professional correspondence between C.E.S. Wood or Sara Bard Field and others. The collection also includes C.E.S Wood’s journals, excerpts from his autobiographies, and documents relating to Wood’s military and law career. These documents provide insight into Wood’s experience in the Bannock War, the treaty between the Bannocks and Shoshones, the Nez Perce campaign, and Chief Joseph’s surrender.

Many samples of Wood’s published writing, including scripts, poems, and speeches are in this collection. Publications include “Circe: A Drama with a Prologue”, “A Beggar at the Gate”, “The Desert in Summer”, “Imperialism vs. Democracy”, and “The Poet in the Desert.” In addition, there are production handbills, book jackets, and letterpress proofs. The collection also includes miscellaneous documents spanning close to a century from Wood’s family members, such as a speech of Sara Bard Field, family event invitations, C.E.S. Wood’s memorial, and published materials of Erskine Wood. A brief story of Wood’s home life in Portland is told in “The Wood Household”, by Barbara Barlett Howell.

Individuals represented in this collection include William Rose Benet, Ernest Bloch, Cyril Clemens, Anne Cobden-Sanderson, Clarence Darrow, Sara Bard Field, Barbara Barlett Hartwell, Max Hayek, David Erskine Honeyman, Harry Howard, Edward Lyman, H.L. Mencken, John and Molly O’Shea, Lute Pease, Ezra Pound, Theodore Roosevelt, Hendrik Willem van Loon, Olin L. Warner, Bruce Berwick Wood, Erskine Wood, Tom Carson Wood, and William Maxwell Wood.

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Other Descriptive Information

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

C.E.S. Wood collection, MSS 800, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Materials are arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Correspondence
  • Series B: Personal papers
  • Series C: Professional papers
  • Series D: Publications and ephemera
  • Series E: Family papers

Custodial History

Acquisition Information

Lib. Acc. 11686

Processing Note

Collection processed by Jules Filipski

Separated Materials

Bibliography

Related Materials

Additional materials about the Wood family can be found in the following collections housed at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library:

  • Erskine Wood papers, 1893-1978, Mss 2445.
  • Nan Wood Honeyman papers, 1935-1962, Mss 193.
  • Nanny Moale Wood notebooks, circa 1893-1902, Coll 511.
  • Nanny Wood collection, 1894-2011, Coll 223.
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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Authors, American--Oregon
  • Authors, American--19th century.
  • Authors, American--20th century.
  • Bannock Indians--Treaties
  • Bannock Indians--Wars, 1878
  • Nez Percé Indians--Wars, 1877--Personal narratives.
  • Poets, American--19th century.
  • Poets, American--20th century.
  • Shoshoni Indians--Treaties

Personal Names

  • Benet,William Rose, 1886-1950
  • Bloch, Ernest, 1880-1959--Correspondence.
  • Clemens, Cyril, 1902--Correspondence.
  • Cobden-Sanderson, Anne, 1853-1926
  • Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938--Correspondence.
  • Field, Sara Bard, 1882-1974--Correspondence.
  • Hartwell, Barbara Bartlett, 1892-1973.
  • Hayek, Max, 1882--Correspondence.
  • Honeyman, David Erskine--Correspondence.
  • Kolisch, Marian W.--Correspondence.
  • Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956--Correspondence.
  • O'Shea, John--Correspondence.
  • O'Shea, Molly, 1951--Correspondence.
  • Pease, Lute, 1869-1963--Correspondence.
  • Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972--Correspondence.
  • Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919--Correspondence.
  • Van Loon, Hendrik Willem, 1882-1944--Correspondence.
  • Warner, Olin Levi, 1844-1896--Correspondence.
  • Wood, Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944--Archives.
  • Wood, Erskine.
  • Wood, Nanny, 1855-1933.
  • Wood, William Maxwell, 1809-1880
  • Wood, Bruce Berwick--Correspondence.
  • Wood, Tom Carson

Corporate Names

  • Mt. Hood Stage Co. (Or.)--Records and correspondence.

Geographical Names

  • Los Gatos (Calif.)
  • Portland (Or.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Account books
  • Broadsides
  • Certificates
  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Poetry

Finding aid prepared by Jules Filipski
2017

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