Finding aid revised in March 2023.
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Timothy Woodbridge (T.W.) Davenport was born to Dr. Benjamin Davenport and Sarah Gott in 1826. He spent his childhood in ohio, where his father practiced medicine and was an active abolitionist, serving as a resource on the Underground Railroad. He worked for a time as a school teacher in Illinois and Ohio before, together with his parents, emigrating to Oregon territory in 1851. The family settled in the Waldo Hills of the upper Willamette Valley. While in Oregon, T.W. worked as a surveyor and farmer, marrying Flora Geer, an artist and daughter of a prominent local family, in 1854.
Benjamin and T.W. organized the fledgling Republican Party in Oregon, setting T.W. on a political path. Benjamin Davenport died in 1857. But throughout the late 1850s and 1860s, T.W. served at the state's Republican state nominating conventions, as Indian Agent of the Umatilla Agency, as Marion County surveyor, and as a state legislator.
In 1870, T.W.'s wife, Flora, died of smallpox. T.W. remarried Nancy Elizabeth Gilmour (Lizzie) in 1872 and raised Orla and Homer, his children with Flora, together with Clyde, Adelaide (Adda), Alice, Georgia, and May Delle, his children with Nancy.
Despite several an unsuccessful political bid for Congress in 1874, T.W. served in the state senate in the 1880s and as state land commissioner from 1895-1899. He continued to writ epolitical and historical essays on subjects ranging from abolitionism to populism.
Homer Davenport, born to T.W. and Flora in 1867, blended his father's political interest and his mother's artistic talent into work as a political cartoonist. In adulthood, Homer worked at the family store, as a railroad fireman, a jockey, and a circuis clown. Eventually, he joined the
The large circulation of the
One of the most well-known cartoonists of his era, Homer traveled extensively. He was one of the first American cartoonists to watch the assembly at the British Parliament, was friend to Theodore Roosevelt, and toured the Ottoman Empire. Following his trip to the Ottoman Empire, Homer imported the first purebred Arabian horses to America. Though he continued to work as a cartoonist for the rest of his life, he preferred living on his New Jersey farm with his family and horses. He died of pneumonia in 1912.
This collection contains the personal papers of T.W. Davenport and Homer Calvin Davenport, both influential in late nineteenth century Oregon state and federal politics. Additional Davenport family members, including Adelaid Davenport, Lizzie Davenport, Timothy Clyde Davenport, and others are also represented in this collection.
The material has been arranged to most prominently feature the papers of T.W. and Homer Davenport, and contains family reminiscences, correspondence, photogrpahs, newspaper articles, and original cartoons.
Series I, Timothy Woodbridge Davenport Papers contain the personal papers of the prominent politician and are divided into several subseries. Subseries A contains a wide correspondence from the 1860s till his death in 1911 with family members and political acquaintances, which reflects T.W. Davenport's dedication to his family and his Republican sentiment. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient and/or by writer, and then chronologically. Subseries B contains legal documents; including land deeds and a Umatilla Agency receipt roll for the Walla Walla tribe from 1862. Subseries C, Personal Writings and Essays, contains poetry, political essays, and letters to the editor. Subseries D, Memoirs, includes handwritten and typewritten memoirs by Timothy Woodbridge Davenport.
Series II, Homer Calvin Davenport Papers, contain documents that reflect his career as a political cartoonist and his love for Arabian horses and exotic birds. Subseries A, Correspondence, contains several letters to his sister, Adelaide, and his father, T.W. There are also several telegrams regarding the death of T.W., including one from former President Theodore Roosevelt. Subseries B, Newspaper Clippings, contains newspaper articles and published cartoons both by Homer Davenport and about him. Many of the newspaper clippings are glued on both sides of a page. Subseries D, Memoirs and Character Sketches, includes writings about Homer Davenport by authors Timothy Woodbridge Davenport and Jean Morris Ellis.
Series III, Miscellaneous Davenport Family Papers, is broken down into three subseries by other individual family members, for whom a substantial amount of papers are included in this collection. Subseries A, Adelaide Davenport Correspondence, includes several letters to the Davenport family biographer, Robert Down, among others. Subseries B, Lizzie (Nancy Elizabeth) Davenport Correspondence, includes several letters from her daughters and telegrams regarding the death of Homer Davenport, because Lizzie was his stepmother. Subseries C, Timothy Clyde Davenport Correspondence, is largely outgoing letters to his parents, T.W. and Lizzie, and reflects his years at a sanatorium . The final Subseries D, Miscellaneous Davenport, largely includes correspondence to and from family members and memorabilia such as the Frederic Remington monument brochure, poems from "Captain Jack" John W. Crawford, and a lock of hair from a funeral director in Los Angeles.
Series IV, Photographs, is broken into two subseries by size. Both include images of the Davenport family members, various acquaintances, and Arabian stallions and pheasants. These are arranged alphabetically by name, first by family members, and then other individuals.
Series V, Oversize, contains additional photographs, legal documents, awards, and newspaper clippings. Also included is a scrapbook, published material, and advertisements. Approximately 100 drawings of Homer Davenport's original cartoons, arranged by title, are represented in this series.
Davenport, one of the most well-known editorial cartoonists of his era, critiqued topics in American society ranging from the Spanish-American War, the digging of the Panama Canal, the rise of trusts and big banking, and poverty to the meat industry, women's suffrage, American imperialism, corruption, railroad tycooons, and American political campaigns.