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McLoughlin-Fraser family papers, 1796-1964

Overview of the Collection

Creator
McLoughlin-Fraser family
Title
McLoughlin-Fraser family papers
Dates
1796-1964 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 cubic feet, (2 document cases, 2 custom boxes, 5 reels of microfilm)
Collection Number
Mss 927
Summary
Papers of and relating to Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, Washington, and later a land owner in Oregon City, Oregon; and materials of and relating to McLoughlin's descendants and relatives in the Fraser, Rae, Harvey, Wygant, and Winch families. Most of the materials are copies or transcriptions, with some original documents. Includes correspondence, legal documents, historical materials, and genealogies.
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.

Letter book, 1847-1848 (photocopy), may be copied if proper credit is given to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington.

Languages
English, French
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and "Father of Oregon" was born to John and Angelique (Fraser) McLoughlin on October 19, 1784 in Riviere du Loup in Lower Canada near Quebec. His son, Joseph, was born to his first wife, a Chippewa woman. In about 1812 he married his second wife, Marguerite (Wadin) McKay by whom he had four children. After briefly practicing medicine in Montreal, he joined the fur trade, becoming a partner in the North West Company which united with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. In 1824 he was made Chief Factor of the Columbia District which moved its headquarters from Fort George (Astoria), constructing Fort Vancouver in 1825. There McLoughlin was a leading figure in the development of the Oregon Country.

McLoughlin dealt profitably and successfully with the native people as well as generously providing seeds and other needs to white missionaries and settlers on credit, against the wishes of the HBC. In the 1840s furs started to become scarce and settlers began to arrive in larger numbers. In 1846 McLoughlin retired under criticism from the Company and moved to Oregon City, where he built a two story house, now a museum, and ran a store for a time. But, due to an act of Congress, he was forced to give up much of his land claim. He became an American citizen in 1849 and died in Oregon City on September 3, 1857. A portion of the land claim was returned to his heirs after his death, but he died feeling betrayed by both the British and the Americans.

John and Marguerite McLoughlin's daughter Eloisa was born February 13, 1817, moving to Fort Vancouver with her parents in 1825. In 1838 she married HBC employee William Glen Rae, a clerk and trader by whom she had three children. In 1845 Rae committed suicide in San Francisco and Eloisa returned with her children to Fort Vancouver, subsequently moving to Oregon City with her parents. There in 1850 she married Daniel Harvey who ran flour mills and sawmills. They had three children together and moved to Portland in 1867. Eloisa died in 1884.

Margaret Glen Rae was a daughter by Eloisa's first marriage. She married Theodore Wygant in 1858. They had four children. Wygant was born in New York November 22, 1831, the son of William and Amelia (Fowler) Wygant. He came to Oregon City in 1850, worked on the Canemah and later was Captain of the Surprise. He was an agent for several Oregon City steamboats for ten years and later moved to Portland where he became the Secretary-Treasurer of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and later ran a real estate business.

Theodore and Margaret Wygant's eldest daughter, Alice, married Portland architect William Widden. Their second daughter, Maria Louise, never married. Their third daughter Nellie Amelia married Martin Winch. Winch was born December 15, 1858 and came to Portland in 1871 with his mother and brother to live with his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Simeon G. Reed. His education ended at the age of sixteen when he went to work as an office boy for Oregon Steam Navigation Company. Later he worked for the Oregon Rail Road and Navigation Company and conducted a printing business on the side. His uncle also engaged him to look after his financial affairs. After the deaths of his aunt and uncle he succeeded in carrying out his aunt's will by establishing and endowing Reed College to benefit Portland, where the Reeds had started their fortune. Amelia and Martin had one son, Simeon Reed Winch.

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Content Description

The McLoughlin-Fraser family collection contains family, business and legal papers from the period 1796-1964. It contains typescript copies of family correspondence from the period 1807-1843, including correspondence between John McLoughlin, John McLoughlin Jr., David McLoughlin, Julia McLoughlin, Malcolm Fraser, John Fraser, Simon Fraser, Alexander Fraser, John G. McTavish, Donald McTavish, William McGillivray, George Simpson, and J.F. Pelletier. It also includes genealogical data.

Papers of John McLoughlin include correspondence, originals and photocopies, circa. 1825-1855; documents, including land claim documents, 1843-1857; Hudson's Bay Company papers; and photostats of estate papers. McLoughlin's statement to the HBC, ca. 1845, is in this collection. (A microfilm copy of this letter is also available.) There is also a photocopy of a letter copy book from the period 1847-1848 from the original at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington. (See the publication restriction above.) The collection also contains miscellaneous ephemera, biographical data, including material by and from historian Burt Brown Barker, original receipts, and a typescript of an interview with Aloisa Rae Harvey, made in 1878 by publisher Hubert Howe Bancroft.

The David McLoughlin papers from the period 1855-1928 include posthumous correspondence, much written to George H. Himes of the Oregon Historical Society, concerning David McLoughlin, and biographical data, including letters from H. A. M. DeChesne on family matters. Other papers include a land survey of Joseph McLoughlin's claim at the mouth of the Yamhill River from 1846, an invitation to McLoughlin Day exercises at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905, and documents regarding family members including the wills of William Glen Rae (1841) and John Rae (1865); the marriage settlement between Eloisa McLoughlin Rae, Daniel Harvey and John McLoughlin in 1850; and Theodore Wygant's reminiscence of his 1850 overland journey to Oregon. The collection also contains specifications for the restoration and development of the McLoughlin House by the McLoughlin Memorial Association, plus copies of letters and documents from the period 1796-1857 microfilmed from the originals held by the Association, and a microfilm copy of John McLoughlin's letter book from the period of March 11, 1829 - September 1, 1832.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Portions of the collection are available on Mss Microfilm 927, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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

McLoughlin-Fraser family papers, Mss 927, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

  • Series A: paper records
  • Series B: microfilmed records

Location of Originals

Family letters and documents, 1775-1857 were microfilmed from originals held by the McLoughlin Memorial Association, Oregon City, Or.

"Life of John McLoughlin..." by his daughter, Eloise Harvey, is a transcript of the original at the Bancroft Library, Berkeley, Calif.

Acquisition Information

The bulk of the collection was donated to the Oregon Historical Society by Reed College in 1974. The typescript photocopy regarding land claim and estate matters was a gift of C. H. Jack McGill in June 1979. Typescript copy of John McLoughlin letter of 1852 June 8, gift of Thomas C. Elliot, 1946.

Related Materials

Additional materials relating to John McLoughlin and his descendants can be found in the Winch family papers, Coll 52, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Finding aid prepared by Heather Ward
2007

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