Oregon Historical Society, Research
Library
MSS
800
Wood, Charles Erskine
Scott, 1852-1944.
C.E.S. Wood collection
circa
1852-1970
1852-1944
1.64 cubic feet
2 document cases, 2 oversize folders
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.
English
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.
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.
TYPE attribute}?>
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
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
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.
C.E.S. Wood collection, MSS 800, Oregon Historical Society Research
Library.
Lib. Acc. 11686
Collection processed by Jules Filipski
, appropriate name element(s),
, <imprint> elements in <bibliography> element }?></p>
</bibliography>
<relatedmaterial encodinganalog="5441_">
<p>Additional materials about the Wood family can be found in the
following collections housed at the Oregon Historical Society Research
Library:</p>
<list>
<item>Erskine Wood papers, 1893-1978, Mss 2445.</item>
<item>Nan Wood Honeyman papers, 1935-1962, Mss 193.</item>
<item>Nanny Moale Wood notebooks, circa 1893-1902, Coll 511.</item>
<item>Nanny Wood collection, 1894-2011, Coll 223.</item>
</list>
</relatedmaterial>
<!-- ooooooooooooooooooo ACCESS POINTS oooooooooooooooooooo -->
<controlaccess>
<p>This 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.</p>
<controlaccess>
<persname encodinganalog="600" role="subject" source="lcnaf">Wood,
Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944--Archives.</persname>
<persname encodinganalog="600" role="subject" source="lcnaf">Benet,William Rose, 1886-1950</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Bloch,
Ernest, 1880-1959--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Clemens,
Cyril, 1902--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Cobden-Sanderson, Anne, 1853-1926</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Darrow,
Clarence, 1857-1938--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Field,
Sara Bard, 1882-1974--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">Hartwell,
Barbara Bartlett, 1892-1973.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">Hayek, Max,
1882--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">Honeyman,
David Erskine--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Kolisch,
Marian W.--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Mencken,
H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="lcnaf">O'Shea,
Molly, 1951--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">O'Shea,
John--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Pease,
Lute, 1869-1963--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Pound,
Ezra, 1885-1972--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Roosevelt,
Theodore, 1858-1919--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Van Loon,
Hendrik Willem, 1882-1944--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Warner,
Olin Levi, 1844-1896--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">Wood, Bruce
Berwick--Correspondence.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Wood,
Erskine.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Wood,
Nanny, 1855-1933.</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" rules="rda">Wood, Tom
Carson</persname>
<persname role="subject" encodinganalog="600" source="lcnaf">Wood,
William Maxwell, 1809-1880</persname>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<famname role="subject" encodinganalog="600"><?xm-replace_text {Family name}?></famname>
<famname role="creator" encodinganalog="700"><?xm-replace_text {Additional creator, family}?></famname>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<corpname role="subject" encodinganalog="610" rules="local">Mt. Hood
Stage Co. (Or.)--Records and correspondence.</corpname>
<corpname role="subject" encodinganalog="610"><?xm-replace_text {Corporate body name}?></corpname>
<corpname role="creator" encodinganalog="710"><?xm-replace_text {Additional creator, corporate}?></corpname>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<geogname role="subject" encodinganalog="651" source="lcnaf">Portland
(Or.)</geogname>
<geogname role="subject" encodinganalog="651" source="lcnaf">Los Gatos
(Calif.)</geogname>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Authors, American--19th
century.</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Authors, American--20th
century.</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="rda">Authors,
American--Oregon</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Bannock Indians--Wars,
1878</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Bannock
Indians--Treaties</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Nez Percé Indians--Wars,
1877--Personal narratives.</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Poets, American--19th
century.</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Poets, American--20th
century.</subject>
<subject encodinganalog="650" source="lcsh">Shoshoni
Indians--Treaties</subject>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<subject source="archiveswest" altrender="nodisplay" encodinganalog="690">Literature</subject>
<subject source="archiveswest" altrender="nodisplay" encodinganalog="690">Military</subject>
<subject source="archiveswest" altrender="nodisplay" encodinganalog="690">Portland</subject>
</controlaccess>
<controlaccess>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Account books</genreform>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Broadsides</genreform>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Certificates</genreform>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Correspondence</genreform>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Diaries</genreform>
<genreform encodinganalog="655" source="aat">Poetry</genreform>
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<controlaccess>
<occupation encodinganalog="656"/>
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<function encodinganalog="657"/>
<function encodinganalog="657"><?xm-replace_text {Function}?></function>
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<title encodinganalog="630"><?xm-replace_text {Title of publication included/described in collection}?>
Series A
Correspondence
1883-1970
Includes both professional and personal correspondence involving
C.E.S. Wood and/or his family members.
1/1
Olin L. Warner to C.E.S. Wood
1883-1895
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/2
Theodore Roosevelt to C.E.S. Wood
1901
Photocopy from the Huntington Library.
1/3
Clarence Darrow to C.E.S. Wood
1912-1920
Five letters. Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/4
Wood, Montague & Hunt to Oregon Bar notifying of
Wood's resignation
1913
1/5
C.E.S. Wood to Bruce Berwick Wood
1921
Photocopy.
1/6
H.L. Mencken to Hendrik Willem van Loon
1923
Photocopy from the Huntington Library.
1/7
C.E.S. Wood to Max Hayek regarding the German
translation of "A Poet in the Desert"
1927
Photocopy from the Huntington Library.
1/8
C.E.S. Wood to Cyril Clemens
1928
1932
Photocopies from Stanford Library.
1/9
C.E.S. Wood to Tom Carson Wood
1934
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/10
C.E.S. Wood to David Erskine Honeyman
1937
Oversize folder B
Ezra Pound to C.E.S. Wood
1937
Photocopy from the Huntington Library.
1/11
Edward Lyman to and from C.E.S. Wood
1939
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/12
Sara Bard Field and C.E.S. Wood to Molly and John
O'Shea
1941
Photocopies from Stanford Library.
1/13
C.E.S. Wood to Harry Howard
1942
Photocopy from the Huntington Library.
1/14
Sara Bard Field
1939-1944
Includes letters from Sara Bard Field to Ernest Bloch and to
WRB, 1944; Letter from Lute Pease to Sara Bard Field, 1944; Photograph of
Christmas card inscription, 1939. Some photocopies from Huntington Library.
1/15
Marian Wood Kolisch
1970 July 12
Series B
Personal Papers
circa 1871-1943
Includes original journals, bound books owned by C.E.S. Wood and
excerpts from his autobiographies.
1/16
"Commentaries on American Law" (Vol. 1), by James Kent
1867
Bound copy of 11th edition owned, signed and dated by C.E.S.
Wood.
1/17
Private journal
1878
Bound volume contains officers' names and brief description of
treaty with the Bannocks and Shoshones.
1/18
Private journal
1878
Photocopy of transcription.
1/19
Excerpts from diaries
1893-1896
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/20
Excerpts from autobiography
1912-1916
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/21
Excerpts from autobiography
1925
Topics include the Nez Perce campaign and Chief Joseph's
surrender. Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
1/22
Excerpts from autobiography
1943
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
Series C
Professional Records (includes military and law career)
circa 1878-1943
Includes military and law career records of C.E.S. Wood and
military nomination of William Maxwell Wood.
2/1
Articles of Incorporation and Record Book, Mt. Hood
Stage Company
1889 April 24
Bound volume.
2/2
Bannock War journal
1878
Bound volume.
2/3
Excerpts from Bannock War journal
1878 June 14 and 15
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
2/4
Military time book
1888
Bound volume.
Oversize folder B
Military nomination, William Maxwell Wood
1871
Nomination from President Ulysses S. Grant of Wood to the
position of Medical Director, rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy.
Oversize folder B
Certificates and nominations, C.E.S. Wood
1874-1891
Photocopies of documents regarding C.E.S. Wood’s career as an
attorney, his military education and subsequent military career.
Series D
Publications and Ephemera
circa 1893-1928
Includes poems, programs, letterpress proofs, book dust jackets,
broadsides and ephemera of C.E.S. Wood's writing career.
2/5
"Ave! Caesar. Imperator. Morituri Te Salutant"
Three copies.
2/6
"The Beggar at the Gate"
1913
Proof sheets.
2/7
"Circe: A drama with a prologue"
1919
Oversize folder B
“Circe: A drama with a prologue", Portland, Oregon
1919
Screenplay.
2/8
"The Desert in Summer", article in The Public
1907 November 16
2/9
"Free Speech and the Constitution in the War"
Three copies.
2/10
"Heavenly Discourse" playbills from Blanding Sloan
Puppet theatre
circa 1928
Three copies.
Oversize folder B
"Heavenly Discourse" production handbill from Blanding
Sloan Puppet theatre
circa 1928
Oversize folder C
“Heavenly Discourse” and “Too Much Government” book
jackets
2/11
"Imperialism vs. Democracy" address
1899 April 13
Oversize folder B
Letterpress proof beginning with “An old Burgundian
...”
Oversize folder B
Acts 14 and 15 from unknown text
Letterpress proofs.
2/12
Oration for Memorial Day sermon
1893 May 30
2/13
"The Poet in the Desert" and "Civilization" (Part 1)
1918
1914
Bound, letterpress proofs.
2/14
Poetry, assorted
2/15
Poetry and dramas about Christmas
2/16
"The Sleeping Princess" playbills
Three copies.
Series E
Family Papers
circa 1852-1969
2/17
Invitations to Nanny Wood's marriage and the centennial
anniversary of C.E.S. Wood's law practice
1907
1984
2/18
"Lazard Freres: My Father's $50,000 Fee," by Erskine
Wood
1969
Two copies.
2/19
C.E.S. Wood memorial
1852-1944
2/20
Souvenir booklet to Anne Cobden-Sanderson
1926 June26
2/21
Speech of Sara Bard Field
1921 February 15
2/22
Assorted documents of William Maxwell Wood
Photocopies from the Huntington Library.
2/23
"The Wood Household", by Barbara Bartlett Hartwell