Collection is open for research.
Gift of A. Miriam Oberg, September 1971 (Lib. Acc. 12024); and gift of H. Elaine Oberg, January 1981 (Lib. Acc. 15374).
A typescript copy of William Hoffman's overland diary is part of the William Hoffman papers, Mss 537, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Brothers William Royal (1796-1870) and Charles Royal (1798-1878) were born in Monongahela County, Virginia (later West Virginia). Charles Royal emigrated to Oregon in 1852. William Royal emigrated from Illinois to Oregon in 1853, along with family members including his wife, Barbara Royal (née Ebey, 1800-1890), and sons Thomas Fletcher Royal (1821-1911), James Henry Bascom Royal (1830-1910), and Jason Lee Royal (1839-1913). William Royal, T. F. Royal, and James H. B. Royal all worked as Methodist ministers in Oregon and Washington. In 1867, William Royal founded the Centenary Methodist Church (later Centenary-Wilbur Methodist Church) in East Portland.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; articles in the Oregonian, 1910-1927; "The Royal Way West," by Violet Coe Mumford and the Royal Family Association, Inc. (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1988); "The Preacher Train," by Robert Livingston Casebeer, oregonpioneers.com,
Osmon Royal, a nephew of T. F. Royal, was born in 1856 in Illinois, and came to Oregon with his family in 1865. He worked as a physician in Portland, Oregon. In 1882, he married Julia Morgan (1856-1913); the couple had a son, Osmon Royal, Jr. Osmon Royal died of a heart attack he suffered while watching a high school football game on New Year's Eve, 1910.
Sources: Obituary for Osmon Royal in the Oregonian, January 1, 1911, page 11; vital records via Ancestry.com.
Due to fragility, some letters, William Royal's 1846-1849 and 1860 diaries, the Umpqua Academy subscription book, and the Thanksgiving proclamation fragments may require assistance to view.
Royal family papers, Mss 1628, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was initially processed from approximately 1971 to the 1980s or 1990s, and reprocessed by Jeffrey Hayes in 2026. Reprocessing included rehousing of materials and some changes to arrangement. Collection includes material previously designated Mss 1628-1.
Other collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to the Royal family include the Royal family papers, Coll 975; two vertical files, Genealogy - Royal family and Biography - Royal, Thomas Fletcher; and a book, "The Royal Way West, by Violet Coe Mumford and the Royal Family Association, Inc. (call number VAULT 929.2 R888m v. 1).
The collection consists of papers of the Royal family, early emigrants to Oregon. A substantial portion of the collection is the correspondence of Osmon Royal (1856-1910) and his wife, Julia Royal (1856-1913). Some of Julia Royal's correspondence regards the Women's Home Missionary Society. The collection also includes papers of William Royal (1796-1870) and his son T. F. Royal (1821-1911). These include several diaries and notebooks, correspondence, and reminiscences and other writings of T. F. Royal. Other members of the Royal family represented in the collection include James Henry Bascom Royal, Stanley Olin Royal, William W. E. Royal, Charles W. Royal, Ladru Royal, and Barbara Royal. Other materials in the collection include a book of genealogical records; a scrapbook of clippings and ephemera; materials relating to Umpqua Academy, including a student roll and a subscription book; materials relating to the Portland Academy and Female Seminary; the overland diary of William Hoffman, who traveled with the Royal family to Oregon in 1853; and fragments of a 1799 Thanksgiving proclamation by Vermont Governor Isaac Tichenor.
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.