Oregon Historical
Society, Davies Family Research Library
Research Library
Mss
701
Pope, Seth
Luen, 1837-1912
Seth Luen Pope
papers
1710-1979
1855-1911
4 cubic feet (8 document cases,
2 card file boxes, 3 custom boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Papers of Seth Luen Pope of St. Helens
and Portland, Oregon, and of Pend Oreille, Idaho. Included are extensive and
detailed diaries dating from the 1850s to the 1910s, which include photographs;
ships' logs; Masonic papers; and genealogical records. Also included are a
small quantity of papers of Pope's brother William Henwood Pope; and papers of
Pope's ancestors in the area of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Materials in the collection are in English.
Biography of Seth Luen Pope:
Seth Luen Pope was a descendant of early English settlers in
Massachusetts. One ancestor, Thomas Pope (1608-1683), settled in 1670 in the
area of Dartmouth (now Fairhaven), Mass., and there the family remained until
the end of the 19th century. Other ancestors included Seth Pope (1648-1727),
his son Lemuel Pope (1696-1771), and Lemuel's son Seth Pope (1719-1802). Seth's
son Captain Seth Pope (1803-1886) commanded a number of merchant vessels and
sailed throughout the world. His wife was Mary Henwood Pope (1811-1842), a
native of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England. In 1850 Seth Pope sailed
to California from New Bedford, Mass., on his ship Nonpareil. Settling eventually in St. Helens, Oregon, he
served as postmaster, Treasurer of Columbia County, ran a general store, and
continued in the shipping business until he retired to Portland in the 1870s.
His two sons were William Henwood Pope (1839-1899) and Seth Luen Pope
(1837-1912).
Seth Luen Pope was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts in 1837, educated
at Woodbury Cottage School, and came to Oregon by sea with his brother in 1854.
He worked in his father's store in St. Helens, tried farming, then took up
seafaring, serving on the bark Desdemona. After an
accident in 1857, he worked at various occupations in St. Helens, then moved to
The Dalles, Oregon, in 1862. In 1865 he went to Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, where
he was involved in running various steamboats on the lake. He came back to
Oregon in 1870 and settled in Portland, and there he held positions with
various firms, including Wells Fargo & Co.; the Masonic Building
Association; the Portland Telephone, Telegraph & Light Company; the
Portland Water Company; and the Transcontinental Street Railway Company. He was
credited with installing the first telephone system in the city. During the
year 1887 he visited mining camps in Okanogan and eastern Washington. From
about 1874 to 1901 Pope lived in a house at the corner of SW Mill Street and
Broadway in Portland -- a house he shared with Sarah Phelps Abrams, widow of
his friend William Penn Abrams, a Portland pioneer. In 1901 they moved to a
house at the corner of SW 17th Avenue and Taylor Street, where Pope died in
1912. Besides keeping extensive diaries, Pope was also an amateur photographer
who documented the growth of Portland and surrounding areas.
Seth Luen Pope's brother, William Henwood Pope, left St. Helens for
Olympia, Washington, in 1860. There he worked in the recorder's office and
served as clerk and interpreter on the Tulalip Indian reservation. He later
held many positions throughout the northwest in places such as Vancouver,
Washington, The Dalles, Oregon, Walla Walla, Washington, and Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho. Starting in 1867 he worked for seven years at the First National Bank of
Idaho, then moved to San Francisco and went into the real estate business for
two years. After visiting Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, he settled in
Portland in 1892 and became Auditor of Multnomah County.
The bulk of the collection consists of the extensive and detailed
diaries of Seth Luen Pope. These volumes record daily activities and include
logs of vessels on which he served in his youth. Diaries for later years
include photographs taken by Pope, which document the development of Portland
as well as Pope's family and friends. Among the other materials in the
collection are early documents from Pope's Massachusetts ancestors in the
Fairhaven area; a small amount of correspondence; a list of taxpayers in
Columbia County, Oregon, for 1858; a list of passengers on the brig
Nonpareil who sailed with Pope's father for San
Francisco in 1850; log book of Nonpareil (included
with logs of other sailing ships commanded by Pope's father); log of the
whaling ship Congress from New Bedford,
Massachusettes, 1843-1846; information on Pend Oreille, Idaho; a small amount
of papers from Pope's brother William; and a biography of Portland pioneer
William Penn Abrams.
Among the ancestral documents are: an account ledger from a store,
1749 to 1753, in Old Tennor, Massachusetts, kept by the owners, Mr. and Mrs.
Pierce (apparently the Popes were regular customers of the store); a quit claim
to Lemuel Pope, February 19, 1731; and a 1772 copy of a lot survey of 1710 for
property on Sconticut Neck and Palmer Island, from Benjamin Cram, surveyor,
Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Also included among the papers of Mary Henwood Pope
(Seth Luen Pope's mother), is the diary of her voyage from London, England, to
Boston in 1836; and a diary with brief daily entries from 1837.
The collection is arranged in the following series:
- Series A: General papers of Seth Luen Pope, 1842-1979
- Series B: Papers of other family members, 1710-1907
- Series C: Diaries and journals, 1853-1912
The collection is open to the public.
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
before any publication use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to
all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Bequest of the estate of Seth Luen Pope, 1914 February 5.
Photograph albums of Seth Luen Pope are designated Album 51a through
Album 51i in the Photograph Collections, Oregon Historical Society Research
Library.
The Seth Luen Pope photographs collection is designeted Org. Lot 61 in
the Photograph Collections, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Four hand-drawn maps of Lake Pend Oreille, received with the
collection, are housed in the Vault Map Collection and designated G4272 P4
1864, G4272 P4R2 1869, G4272 P4C3 1866, and G4274 P4 G4 1866.
Genealogical chart of the Pope family drawn by Seth Luen Pope is
designated Coll 767, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
The collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings:
Abrams, Sarah
Phelps.
Abrams, William
Penn.
Pope, Lemuel,
1696-1771.
Pope, Seth,
1719-1802.
Pope, Seth,
1803-1886.
Pope, Seth
Luen, 1837-1912
Pope,
William Henwood.
Pope family.
Congress (Ship :
1831-1865)
Nonpareil
(brig)
Columbia County
(Or.)--History.
Dalles
(Or.)--History.
Fairhaven
(Mass.)--History.
Pend Oreille, Lake
(Idaho)--History.
Portland
(Or.)--History.
St. Helens
(Or.)--History.
Photography--Oregon--Portland--History.
Steamboats--Northwest,
Pacific--History.
Voyages and
travels.
Voyages to the Pacific
coast.
City and Town Life
Idaho
Oregon
Photographs
Pioneers
Portland
Ships and Shipping
Women
Accounts.
Diaries.
Ledgers.
Logs (records)
Photographs.
Series A
General papers of Seth Luen
Pope
1842-1979
1/1
Original inventory of Seth Luen
Pope bequest to the Oregon Historical Society
1952
1/2
Bank book, wills and
receipts
1870-1907
Oversize folder
Certificates
1868-1908
12 items, including masonic certificates and Oregon Historical
Society membership
1/3
"Chalacha Pioneer" (hand written
newspaper by Seth L. Pope)
1855
July 1
1/4
Columbia County, Oregon, tax
list
1858
12/1
Columbia County, Oregon,
treasurer's record book (old vol. 1)
1854
December 18-1856 July 7
1/5
Correspondence, nautical
notations, precious metals list, memoranda for cash receipts, receipts,
accounts
1870-1878
1/6
Dalles, Oregon--Program for
prayer service
1866
December or 1867 January
1/7
First Presbyterian Church,
Portland--History
1903
1/8
First Presbyterian Church,
Portland--List of first members
circa 1904
Full list in oversize folder.
1/9
Genealogical records
1874-1909
undated
1/10
Letters received by
Pope
1853-1899
1/11
Life at Pend Oreille,
Idaho
1866-1890
Includes drawings, correspondence, notebook
Life of William Penn Abrams, by
Seth L. Pope
1/12
Original typescript and related
items
1869-1910
1/13
Photocopy of typescript and
biographical materials
1910-1979
1/14
Original cover
circa 1910
13/1
Log of the ship
Congress (old vol. 2)
1843-1846
Log of the ship Congress on a
whaling voyage from New Bedford, Massachusetts, around the world; Weeks,
master, from December 18, 1843 to February 22, 1846. "Presented to Seth L. Pope
of Portland, Oregon, by...Pardon L. Thomson, New Bedford, Mass., July 30,
1910."
Oversize 1
Masonic ledger pages, with names
of lodge members and dates of election
circa 1870-1905
1/15
Masonic papers, with obituary of
Seth L. Pope
1872-1912
1/16
Newspaper clippings, including
1842 history of England
1842-1910
1/17
Newspaper clippings on the
opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Portland
1883
Oversize 1
Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine--Certificate
1891
October 28
1/18
Water color sketches of
flowers
1865-1873
Oversize 2
Survey map of Pope's property
1897 October 7
1/19
Woodbury Cottage School
records
1845-1852
Series B
Papers of other family
members
1710-1907
1/20
Fish, Lucy Pope, "Mothers of
Boston to the rescue"
undated
Oversize folder
Indenture (mortgage deed) for property in Leicester,
England
1710 September 30
Hand written document on parchment
1/21
Pope, Ephraim--Will and estate
account
1822-1832
1/22
Pope, Ephraim--Will and bank
notes
1852-1870
1/23
Pope, Josua--Lemuel Akin
letter
1853
1/24
Pope, Lemuel--Papers
1750-1772
Includes school expenses, letter to Mr. Morton, inventory of
Captain Pope's estate, transcript of Lemuel Pope's will, originals and
transcript of codicil.
1/25
Pope, Luen--Receipts
1790-1793
1/26
Pope, Mary
Henwood--Papers
1831-1842
Includes diary of voyage from London to Boston, 1836, and diary
of 1837.
Oversize folder
Pope, Mary Henwood--Letter from
her mother
1836
1/27
Pope, Nathaniel--Plat of
land
1803
Original in oversize folder.
1/28
Pope, Sarah--Will
1881-1890
1/29
Pope, Seth
(1648-1727)--Papers
1710-1731
Includes will, inventory of estate, land survey, quitclaim
deed.
1/30
Pope, Seth
(1720-1802)
Designation of executor, 1802 Pope, Seth (1803-1886, father of
Seth Luen Pope)
12/2
Account book, general merchandise
store, St. Helens, Oregon (old vol. 5)
circa 1855-1859
12/3
Log books, kept as captain, mate,
or passenger of various ships (old vol. 6)
1828-1850
- 1) Brig Troy, New Bedford,
Mass. To New Orleans and Boston, Nov. 9, 1828 -- Mar. 14, 1829.
- 2) Brig Cora, New York,
Mobile, Liverpool, Boston, Jan. 4 -- July 12, 1833.
- 3) Ship Zephyr, New Bedford,
Antwerp, New York, Nov. 2, 1833 -- April 16, 1834.
- 4) Brig Sarah Maria, New
Bedford, Mobile, Boston, St. Michael, Etc., Oct. 20, 1834 -- Jan. 31,
1836
- 5) Short trips of Sea Lark &
Brothers, 1836.
- 6) Schooner, Mary Jane, East
Coastal trade and then to New Orleans & return, June 14, 1836 -- July 13,
1837.
- 7) Brig Nopareil, East
coastal trade; then New Bedford to San Francisco, Jan. 10 to September 5, 1850
(with a brief entry on voyage to St. Helens, Oregon, through October 24th,
1850)
13/2
Log of the brig
Nonpareil
1850
January 11-1853 May 13
Seth Pope, commander and owner. Log includes voyage from New
Bedford to San Francisco, 1850, and trips between California and Oregon.
1/31
Papers
1836-1883
1/32
"Narrative of Captain Seth Pope,
1820-1886" (hand written autobiography)
circa 1886
1/33
Pope, William H.--Copies of
deeds
1798
1832
1/34
Pope, William Henwood
(1839-1899)--Papers
1845-1905
Includes hand written dictionary of the Klickitat language
Oversize folder
Pope, William
Henwood--Certificates (2 items)
1867
1891
1/35
Misc. family members'
papers
1797-1907
1/36
Survey notations for property at
Palmer's Island, and legal agreement between Seth and Ephraim Pope
1804
1828
11
Pierce family account book,
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
1745-1751
Series C
Diaries and journals
1853-1912
Unless otherwise noted, all items are from Seth Luen Pope.
2/1
Log of the Eagle Wing
1853-1854
2/2
Log of the Desdemona from Oak Point on the Columbia River to San
Francisco
1855-1856
2/3
Orderly sergeant's book, Lewis
River, Washington Territory
1955-1856
9/1
Diary (old vol. 7)
1855
9/2
Diary (old vol. 8)
1856
9/3
Diary (old vol. 9)
1857
9/4
Diary (old vol. 10), "Daily life
on father's claim at St. Helens, Oregon, building a log cabin"
1859
2/4
Diary (old vol. 12)
1861
2/5
Diary (old vol. 13), part
1
1862
2/6
Diary (old vol. 14), part
2
1862
2/7
Diary (old vol. 15), part
3
1862
2/8
Diary (old vol. 16)
1862-1863
1866
9/5
Diary/notebook--Jury trials and
log of voyage from The Dalles to Rock Creek
1865
9/6
Journal of voyage on the
French Jo [?]
1865
August 8-15
2/9
Log (old vol. 17), Oregon and
Montana transportation on steamer Mary Moody, Lake
Pend Oreille
1866
9/7
Memo book, Pend Oreille (old vol.
60)
1866
2/10
Diary (old vol. 18)
1867-1869
9/8
Diary, "To Pend
d'Oreille"
1869
February 21
9/9
Diary (old vol. 19)
1869
9/10
Diary, "The Dalles" (old vol.
20)
1870
9/11
Diary (old vol. 21)
1871
9/12
Letter found in above
volume
1871
9/13
Diary of trip to the mountains
and to Gale Creek
1873
3/1
Diary (old vol. 22)
1873
9/14
Diary, including Masonic temple
notations (old vol. 23)
1875
9/15
Diary (old vol. 24)
1876
9/16
Diary (old vol. 25)
1878
9/17
Diary, Portland to Lewiston,
Idaho
1878
June 28-July 4
9/18
Diary (old vol. 26)
1879
9/19
Diary, Astoria, Pend Oreille,
Salem
1879
1881
1903
9/20
Diary (old vol. 27)
1880-1882
Contains diary of trip from Portland to Victoria, B.C., 1882;
voyage from Portland to San Francisco, 1880; accounts; notes.
9/21
Diary (old vol. 11)
1880
9/22
Diary (old vol. 28)
1882
9/23
Diary (old vol. 29)
1883
9/24
Diary (old vol. 30)
1884
10/1
Diary (old vol. 31)
1885
10/2
Diary (old vol. 52)
1886
10/3
Diary (old vol. 33)
1887
10/4
Diary, "To the
Oknagon,"
1886
October 1
1887
June 7-26
10/5
Diary, "Trip to Swauk mines,
Kittitas Co. Wash Territory" (old vol. 63)
1887
August
3/2
Diary (old vol. 65), trip to
Cascade Tunnel
1887
10/6
Diary (old vol. 34)
1888
10/7
Diary (old vol. 35)
1889
10/8
Diary (old vol. 36)
1890
10/9
Diary (old vol. 37)
1891
10/10
Diary (old vol. 38)
1892
10/11
Diary (old vol. 39)
1894
3/3
Daily journal
1895
10/12
Diary, Lewis River (old vol.
66)
1896
3/4
Diary (old vol. 41)
1896
10/13
Diary (old vol. 42)
1897
10/14
Diary, Portland to Seattle,
Astoria, and Ocean Park (old vol. 67)
1897
July-1898 September
3/5
Diary (old vol. 43)
1898
3/6
Diary (old vol. 44)
1899
4/1
Daily journal with lists of "old
folks" (old vol. 45)
1900
4/2
Diary (old vol. 46)
1901
4/3
Diary (old vol. 47)
1902
10/15
Diary of trip, notes on family
members (old vol. 48)
1902
5/1
Diary (old vol. 45)
1903
5/2
Papers found in above
volume
1903
5/3
Diary (old vol. 50)
1904
5/4
Diary (old vol. 51)
1905
6/1
Diary (old vol. 52)
1906
6/2
Diary (old vol. 53)
1907
7/1
Diary (old vol. 54)
1908
7/2
Transcript from page of above
diary, "Directions to be followed in case of my death"
circa 1908
7/3
Diary (old vol. 55)
1909
7/4
Diary (old vol. 56)
1910
10/16
Diary of visit to New England
(old vol. 57)
1910
8/1
Diary
1911
8/2
Diary (old vol. 59)
1912
8/3
Papers found in above
volume--Inventory of estate of William H. Pope
1912
10/17
Diary of William H.
Pope
1856
10/18
Diary of William H. Pope (old
vol. 69)
1857
10/19
Diary, unidentified author,
camping trip to southern Washington
circa 1871