Memoir of the life and public services of John Charles Frémont ..

Front matter

Book __L-.

ixr

MEMOIR

CHAPTER I. ^**" Parentage, Birth and Education, ...........U

CHAPTER n.

Chooses his Profession — Marries Jessie Benton, ........ 80

CHAPTER m.

First Exploring Expedition— Explores the South Pass — Plants the American Flag on the highest Peak of the Rocky Mountains — Speech of Senator Linut . . .85

CHAPTER TV.

Second Exploring Expedition — Kit Carson — Mrs. Fremont withholds Orders from the War Department — Colonel Benton's Account of the Expedition — Discovers the Inland Sea — Perilous Voyage to its Islands in a linen Boat — Arrives at Fort Vancouver and fulfills the Instructions of his Government, 69

CHAPTER V.

Second Exploring Expedition continued — Sets out from Fort Vancouver — Interest* ing Indian Council — Speech of Col. Fremont — Journey through the Mountains — Insanity of his Men from Privation and Cold — Piauas loses his Way — Arrival at

the Ranche of Captain Sutter, ii

VU

TUl CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Second Exploring Expedition concludeil— Encamps among the Digger Indians — Ttieir liubits and Character — Massacre of Tal)eau — Recovery of his Remains— Beturn to Utah Lake — Analysis of the Results of the Expedition by its Coramand-

CHAPTER Vn.

Third Expedition — First Visit to Mariposas — Strange Phases of Indian Life — Fight with Horse-thief Indians — Loses all his Cattle in the Snow — Hostile Message from Governor Castro — Hoists the American Flag in California — Col. Benton's Account of the Conquest of California— Kit Carson's Account of a Night Attack by a Part/ of Tlamath Indians— Pardon of Pico— Secretary Marcy's Account of the Conquest of California — Establishes the Independence of Cahfornia, 123

CHAPTER VIII.

Conquest of California completed — Joins Commodore Stockton — Description of his Party on its arrival at Monterey — Organizes the California BattaUon — Is appointed Major — Origin of the Controversy between Commodore Stockton and Brigadier- General Kearney — Commodore Stockton's report of the Conquest of South California— Insurrection of the Wali-lah-wah-lah Indians quelled — Capitulation of Oouenga — Fremont Governor of California, 158

•CHAPTER IX.

Origin of the Controversy between Col. Fremont and General Kearney — Is ordered by General Kearney not to re-organize the California Battalion — His Reply — General Kearney claims the Command of the Californian Army — Commodore Stockton refuses to yield it — Their Correspondence — New Instructions from Washington— Kearney takes the Command — Fremont is ordered Home — Hostile Correspondence with Col. Mason — Arrested at Fort Leavenworth — Invited to a Public Dinner at St. Louis — Letter declining the Invitation — Arrives at Washington, . If9

CHAPTER X..

Fremont arrives at Washington— Demands a Court Martial— Illness and Death of his Mother — Court Martial ordered — Its Organization and Progress— Fremont's Defence— Verdict of the Court — Sentence remitted by the President — Resigns his OouuaiggieB and retires from th« Army, .217

CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER XI.

Colonel Fremont projects a fourth Exploring Expedition— California Claims BUI — Speeclies of Senators Benton, Clarke and Dix — .Map and Geograpliical Memoir — Report of Senator Breese — Professor Torrey's Plantae Fremontianae — Golden Medal from the King of Prussia — Letter from Humboldt — Founder's Medal from the Royal Geograpliical Society of London — Letters from John M. Clayton and Abbott Lawrence — Reply of Col. Fremont, 319

CHAPTER XU.

Correspondence between Col. Fremont and Captain Charles Wilkes, . . . 884

CHAPTER Xin.

Fourth Expedition — Encamped In Kansas — Terrible Journey through the Mountain* — Frightful Snow Storm — One hundred and twenty Mules frozen to Death in one Night — Starvation of his Comrades — Meets an unexpected Friend — Reaches the Ranche of Kit Carson — Thrilling Letter to his Wife — Adventure with Navahoes Indians, "^ 85T

CHAPTER XIV.

Fremont settles in Mariposas — Cause of Indian Hostilities — Title to Mariposa*— Original Deed of the Estate — Title questioned and resisted by Caleb Cushing — Confirmed by the U. S. Supreme Court — Opinion of Chief Justice Taney — Receive* the appointment of Mexican Boundary Commissioner — His Magnanimity to Colonel Weller — First political Letter— Elected to the United States Senate, . . 879

CHAPTER XV.

Sails for Washington as United States Senator — Takes the Chagres Fever — ^Letter to the Philadelphia Pacific Railroad Convention, S98

CHAPTER XVI.

Fremont's Career as United States Senator— Speech on the Indian Agency Bill

Speech on the Bill making temporary Provisions for working the Mines of California—ChaUenges Senator Foote— Foote's Retraction— Fremont's Letter about the Affair 4(j8

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVn.

Beturn to California— Illness— Candidate for re-election to the United States Senate — Goes to Europe— Projects his Fiftli and Last Exploring Tour— His Hanlships and Triumph — Letter from Parawan — Prairies on Fire — A careless Sentinel — Huerfano Butte— A cheerless Night— Fall of Mules down the Mountains— Tlireatened ny Indians — How they were repelled — Reduced to eat Horse-meat — They swear not to Eat each other — Freezing, Death, and Burial of Fuller — DecUnes a Pulilic Dinner in San Francisco — Returaa to AVashingtou, ........ 423

CHAPTER XVUl.

CoL Fremont comes to reside In New York— Is talked of for the Presidency— Letter to Gov. Robinson of Kansas — Letter to a Public Meeting in New York upon the Subject of Troubles in Kansas — Is nominated for the Presidency by the National Republican Convention — Letter of Acceptance— Letter accepting the Nominaiioa of tlie " £iatioual AmeiicaiiSi" 446

CHAPTER XTX.

Ooneltuion, <.. 461

APPENDIX, . . 467

THE LIFE

JOHN CHARLES FREMONT.

CHAPTER I.

PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EDTJCATIOIT.

In the social disruptions of the French Revolution, many broken fortunes were replanted in America, and in the words of Chateaubriand, then himself a wanderer in our country, "the names of settlements in the United States became a touching record of the wrecks of European homes." What seemed then only an adverse stroke of fortune to those upon whom it fell, proved the establishment of many prosperous families — the seed scattered by the storm bearing a hundred fold on the ricli soil of the New AVorld.

During this time, a passenger ship bound to one of the French West Indian possessions, was taken by an English man-of-war on the eve of reaching her destination. The passengers, with the ship, were carried prisoners into one of the English islands, where they experienced the usual rigid treatment of prisoners of war in that day. Among them was a young Frenchman of the name of Fremont, from the neighborhood of Lyons, who was on his way to join an aunt in St. Domingo.

Daring liis protracted captivity, M. Fremont eked out the scanty prison allowance by basket-making — a common resource among the prisoners — in which his superior taste soon enabled him to excel. Some skill in painting, too, procured him occasional employment in decorating ceilings with the frescoes which are common in the dweUings of the wealthier families of the tropics.

After some years' detention, he was finally liberated or' escaped (the latter, it is believed), and in his endeavors to find his way homeward, finally arrived at Norfolk, Virginia. Being entirely without resource for the farther prosecution of his homeward voyage, he gave lessons in his native language to the citizens of Norfolk. He was a man of superior accomplishments and high breeding, spoke English fluently, and was a welcome guest in the best society of the city and State. He here became acquainted with, and afterwards married, the future mother of John Charles Fremont. Anne Beverley, one of the daughters of Col. Thomas Whiting, of Gloucester county, an orphan, and one of the most beautiful women of her day in the State of Virginia. This Colonel Whiting's father was the brother of Catharine Whiting, who was a grand aunt of George Washington.* In her commenced the connection by marriage of the Whitings of Virginia with the most illustrious family of this, or perhaps of any country ; a connection subsequently drawn still closer by repeated matrimonial alliances. f

* Sparks's Wasliington, vol. i., 548 ; ib. vol. v., 268 ; ib. vol. vi., 296. f In a brief sketch of his family descent, which General Washington fuinished at the request of Sir Isaac Heard, in 1*792, he says :

BIR5H, PARENTAGE, AND EDUCATION'. 13

Colonel Whiting, Mrs. Fremont's father, was one of the most wealthy and prominent men of his day in Virginia ; he was a leading member of the Ilouse of Burgesses, and during the Revolution was President of the Naval Board at Williamsburgh (then the seat of government), officially the most exalted position, at that time, in the Colony.* Prior to the revolution he had been king's attorney.

'• Lawrence Washington, his eldest son (of John Washington, the founder of the family in this country) married Mildred Warner, daughter of Colonel Augustine Warner, of Gloucester county, by whom he had two sons, John and Augustine, and one daughter, named Mildred. He died in 169Y, and was interred in the family vault at Bridge's Creek.

" John Washington, the eldest son of Lawrence and Mildred, married Catharine Whiting (sister of Colonel Thomas Whiting, the grandfather of Mrs. Fremont the elder) of Gloucester county, where he settled, died, and was buried. He had two sons, Warner and Henry, and three daughters, Mildred, Elizabeth, and Catharine, all of whom are dead.

" Warner Washington married first Elizabeth Macon, daughter of Col. William Macon, of New Kent county, by whom he had one son, who is now hving, and bears the name of Warner. His second wife was Hannah, youngest daughter of the Honorable WiUiam Fairfax, by whom be left two sons and five daughters as follows, namely : Mildred, Hannah, Catharine, Elizabeth, Louisa, Fairfax and Whiting. The three eldest of

the daughters are married, Mildred to Throckmorton, Hannah to

Whiting, and Catharine to Nelson. After his second marriage

he removed from Gloucester, and settled in Frederick county, where he died in 1791.

" Warner Washington, his son, married Whiting, of Gloucester,

by whom he has many sons and daughters." * * * — Sparks's Washington, vol. i., p. 548.

*In Henning's Statutes at Large, vol. ix., we find the following ordinance in relation to this commission :

" Mat, 17*76. — ^Interregnum.

"An ordinance for establishing a Board of Commissioners, to superintend and direct the Naval affairs of this Colony. " Whereas, the Naval preparations of this Colony will be carried on

14 LIFE AND 8P;RVICE8 OF JOHN C. FREMONT.

He was also a man of large wealth, lie owned the whole of the land lying hetween North River and Ware River, in Gloucester county. His prominence as the president of the Naval Bcjard exposed him specially to the depredations of the English on the coast, notwithstanding which, when he died, he left eight 6ej)arate estates to his eight surviving children, and tliirty f/egi-oe8 with each.* The principal residence of the family was at Elmington.

with greater expedition and success if proper persons are appointed, whose business it sliall be particularly to superintend and direct the same,

" Be it therefore ordained, by the delegates of Virginia now in General Convention, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same. That Thomas Whiting, John Hatchings, Champion Travis, Thomas Newton, Junior, and George Webb, Enquires, be, and are hereby appointed and declared a Board of Commissioners," &c., &c.

* The following is a copy of Col. Whiting's will.' The estate was largely increased before the division took place :

WILL OF THOMAS WHITING, GRANDFATHER OF COL. FREMONT.

" In the name of God. Amen. I, Thomas Whiting, of the Parish of Abingdon, in the County of Gloucester, do make this my last will and

testament, as followeth Imprimis, I desire all my just debts to be

paid. I give to my son, Thomas Whiting, the land purchased of Jos. Devenport and Edward Howe, lying in Abington Parish and County aforesaid, containing about six hundred acres, more or less, to him and his heirs. I do give unto my said son, Thomas, the houses and lots I possess in Glostertown, to him and his heirs. I give unto my two sons, Henry Whiting and Horatio Whiting, and their heirs, my two plantations, lying in the Parish and County aforesaid, called and known by the names, Hackney {ind Rumford, including the land purchased of Wm. Sawyer, and the land purchased of Robert Coleman's estate, jointly with Col. Warner Lewis — equally to be divided between them. It is my wish and desire, that my wife, Eliza Whiting, take her dower of my lands in those divided to my sons, Henry and Horatio, and not in the land diviued to my son Thomas ; but if she should, then I give my son Thomas, in case

BIETH, PARENTAGE, AND EDUCATION. 15

Col. "Whiting also enjoyed the notable distinction of having held the infant George Washington in his arms, when he was baptized, an incident which, though my wife should take her dower in his lands as aforesaid, his choice either to take the lands devised to his brothers as aforesaid, or of the lands before devised to him ; and if he should make choice of the Hackney and Rumford, and the other lands therewith devised, and then in such a case, I give the lands devised to Thomas, to the said Henry and Horatio, equally to be divided between thera and their heirs : in either case my son Thomas to have my houses and lots and Glostertown, subject to my wife's dower. I give unto my son, Thomas Whiting, and his heirs, thirty slaves, and that he may have my coachman, Porter, in his part, and boy Dunmore. I give to my daughter, Sarah Whiting, fifteen slaves to her and her heirs, and that she may have Peg, Sail's daughter, and also Harriet, in her part. I give unto my daughter, Catharine Whiting, and her heirs, fifteen slaves, and that she may have Frank, and Patt, and her children, in her part. I give unto my daughter, Eliza T. Whiting, fifteen elaves, to her and her heirs, and that she may have in her part, mulatto Kate and her four children — Dinah, Molly, Will, and Dennis — and as my wife will have her dower in all my slaves, I desire that she may have in her part — that is, in her dower — three slaves, to wit : the cook Hannah, Abigail, Agatha, Bob, Barnaby, Ailee, and her child, Porter; Amarillis, Nelson, Egine, Rachel, Sue, Hannah's son Will, Isabel, Lawrane, and Augustie. I give unto my five youngest children, Henry, Horatio, Susanna, Jane, and Ann Whiting, all the rest of my slaves — that is, exclusive of those before devised — and my wife's dower, to them and their heirs, equally to be divided between them, and after my said wife's death. I also give unto my said five youngest children, hei-ein mentioned, the slaves she may hold as her dower aforesaid, and their increase to them and their heirs, equally to be divided between them and their representatives ; and it is my desire in the division and allotment of my said slaves, that regard may be had to the ages and sexes of them, so as to make them as nearly equal in value, as may be agreeable to the bequest afofesaid. I give to my son Thomas, my gun, sword, books, and Hector ; also a mare and colt formerly given him. I do appoint my friends, Charles M. Thurston, guardian to my son Thomas, and daughter Eliza ; and do give unto the said Charles M. Thurston full power to sell and dispose of any part of my said son's estate, real and personal, if he shall judge it for my said son's interest and advantage so to do. I give

16 LIFE AND SEEYICE8 OF JO UN C. FREMONT.

trifling perhaps in itself, serves to show the kind of relations sulj^isting between the two fiimilies.

He was married three times and had fifteen children, eight of whom snrvived him. Ilis last wife, Elizabeth Sewall, by whom he had three of them, including ^nne Beverley, afterwards the mother of Colonel Fremont, survived him, and married Samuel Carey, by whom she had four children.* Mr. Carey managed the estate so

unto my grandson, Thomas Hubard aud his heirs, all the lands I have in Petsworth Parish, in the county aforesaid. All the rest of my estate, not heretofore devised, I give to be equally divided among all my children, to wit : Thomas, Henry, Horatio, Sarah, Catharine, Eliza T., Susanna, Jane, and Ann Whiting. Lastly, I appoint my beloved wife, Eliza Whiting, Executrix, and my friends, Charles M. Thurston, John Page of Eosewell, and Warner Lewis, jun.. Executors of this my last will, hereby revoking all wills heretofore by me made. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 15th day of October, Anno Domini 17S0.

" Thomas Whiting."

" Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the testator as and for hia last will, in presence of us, .

Richard Cakt,

Johanna Dcnlap,

Robert Innis."

* This intermarriage with the Carys, established another marital connexion between the W^hiting and the Washington families, a daughter of Col. Carey having married a son of Lord Fairfax, whose cousin's daughter married George Washington's brother, Lawrence.

This connexion lends interest to the following extract from a letter written by Washington to George Wm. Fairfax in 17'i'8.

" Lord Fairfax, as I have been told, after having been bowed down to the grave and in a manner shaken hands with death, is perfectly restored and enjoys his usual good health and as much vigor as falls to the lot of ninety. Miss Fairfax was upon the point of marriage in December last, with a relation of mine, a Mr. Whiting; but her iU health delayed it at that time and what has since happened I am not informed. Tour nieces in Alexandria are both married; the elder to Mr. Herbert, the younger

improvident! J" that the children by the first marriage were ultimatelj compelled to resort to the courts for an account and apportionment of the property.*

to Mr. Harvey Whiting, son of Frank in Berkeley. Mrs. Carey, her son Col. Cafey, Mr. Nicholas, Mrs. Ambler and tleir respective families were all well about two months ago. Miss Carey is married to Thomas Nelson, second son to" the Secretary. * * * *

* Among the records of the Superior Court of Chancery held in Richmond, June 13th, 1810, there is a petition and decree on file (one of the fruits we presume of the litigation referred to in the text), directing that the slave of which the said father Thomas Whiting died possessed or to which he was entitled, and the increase of the females, be divide-d and allotted to the several parties according to their respective rights," by commissioners named in the decree. The award of the commissioners, in itself a sufficiently curious document, runs as follows :

" In pursuance of the above annexed decree. We the subscribers being commissioners named therein, have this day divided the slaves belonging to the estate of Thomas Whiting deceased, which were produced to us by Robert Cowne, his executor, in the following manner, viz. :

" To John Lowry and Susanna his wife the negroes contained in lot No. 1. viz : Bob $400, Coxen $400, Aggy and child Lucy |380, Augusta and children Billey, Harriet, Agnes and Edmond, $820. Old Betty — and the estimated value of negroes sold by said Lowry about six years ago $456.

" To John C. Pryor, ad'm. of Henry Whiting deceased, the negroes contained in lot No. 2, viz. : Peter $400, Barnaba $333, Henry $300, Jane and children, Mary and an infant 10 months old, $465. Lucy and children Betty, Cate, Mariah, and a male infant, $730, Sarah $150, Joe $60, and old Frank $5.

" To John Pryor and Ann his wife the negroes contained in lot No. 3, viz. : Phil $400, Black Peter $400, Peggy $300, Hannah* and children Stirling and Salley $580, Billey $250. Eugene $230, and the estimated value of a negro sold by said Pryor abput about two years ago $224, and to Morgan Tomkies, who it appears is entitled to the interest of Charles Grymes and Jane his wife, the negroes contained in lot No. 4,

♦ The slave Hannah mentioned in the above list wa» aftei'wards Colonel Fremont's nurse.

18 . LIFE AND SEKVICE8 OF JOHN' C. FREMONT.

viz. : Frank $400, Black Pliil $400, Nelly $300. Venus and children, Kitty, Daniel, Charles and Phil $880, Daniel $250. Alice $150, and Gardner Frank $160 — and for reasons appearing to us lot No 4 la to pay lot No. 3 $21 50, to lot No. 2, $12 50, and to lot No. 1, 50 cents. It also appears to us after the above allotment was made, that Joe, in lot No. 2, was appraised to $160 instead of $60, wherefore it is directed, that lot No. 2, shall pay to the other lots the sum of $15 cash. " Given from under our hands this 16th day of July, 1810.

EoBERT West.

JoaN HrGHES.

Wm. K. Peerin."

The following entries are taken from a .fragment of the Abington church records, which are deposited at the Gloucester Court-house. They appear to give most of the important niarriages and deaths in the family, for more than half a century, and they also furnish interesting evidence of the solicitude of Col. Whiting, to have all his slaves baptized.

1*732, Major Peter Whiting, was buried February 23.

1735, Mary, the daughter of Francis Whiting, and his wife was born

20th April, and baptized 6th of May. 1738, Ann, the daughter of Mr. Beverley Whiting, and his wife was

born December 22, and baptized January 12. 1742, Sally, Merit, Tony, Patt, to Whiting, baptized June 27.

1742, Catey to Mr. Whiting, born January.

1743, November, Betty to Mr. Brodr. Whiting.

1743, November, Betty, to Mr. Whiting born.

1744, Rob. to Mr. Beverley Whiting, born February. 1744, Sept. Chevr, Dfty. to Whiting, were baptized.

1744, Eliz. daugh. of Thomas and Eliz. Whiting, born Nov. 29.

1746, Anne, daugh. of Thos. and EHz. Whiting, born August 22.

1747, Aggy, to Mr. Thomas Whiting, born February 26.

1747, Francis Whiting was married to Mrs. Frances Perrin, Jan. 24.

1749, Mrs. Elizabeth Whiting, departed this life April 20.

1749, Richard, male slave, to Mr. Thomas Whiting, baptized Oct. Ifc.

1749, Diana, slave to Mr. Thos. Whiting, baptized January 28.

1750, Esther, slave to Mr. Thomas Whiting, about 8 years old, bap.

tized April 8.

1751, Phill. slave to Thos. Whiting, baptized January 26.

1753, Grace, slave to Mr. Thomas Whiting, baptized September 9.

BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EDUCATION. 19

1754, Henry, slave to Capt. Thomas Whiting, 2 months old, oaptized September 15.

1754, Nelley, slave to Mr. Beverley Whiting, baptized Oct. 18.

1755, Mr. Beverley Whiting, departed this life.

(leaf torn,) Thos. Whiting naptized Sept 7 — (uncertain).

1756, -Joe, slave to Capt. Thomas Whiting, born May 26, and bap.

tized August 1, 1756, Frank, slave to Mrs. Whiting, in town, baptized August 15.

1756, Beverley, son of John and Mary Whiting, baptized Oct. 18.

1757, Frank, slave to Capt. Thos. Whiting, born April -1, baptized

May 8.

1757, Jerry, slave to dapt. Thos. Whiting, baptized Sept. 25.

Francis, " " " " April 16.

1758, Johnny, slave to Mrs. * Whiting, Gloucestertown, baptized

May 28. 1758, Else, slave to Capt. Thos. Whiting, baptized August 27. 1758, Beverley, son of Thomas and Eliz. Whiting, born March 10.

1758, Hannah, Frankey, slaves to Capt. Thos. Whiting, baptized

April 1.

1759, Beverley, soli of Capt. Thos. Whiting, died Oct. 28.

1759, WilUam, son of Capt. Thomas Whiting, died October and waa buried 24.

1759, A negro child belonging to Mrs. Whiting, in Gloucester, died

December 3. 1776, Mingo, slave to Mr. John Whiting, died December 8.

1776, Rosse, slave to Col. Thos. Whiting, baptized December 29.

Buster, slave to John Whiting, died December 26.

1777, Cattie, slave to Col. Thomas Whiting, baptized January 25. 1777, Bristol, slave to John Whiting, died January.

1760, Amos, slave to Capt. Thomas Whiting, 8 months old, baptized

June 1.

1760, Phill, slave to Mrs. Eliza Whiting, in town, 10 months old, baptized June 1.

1760, Robert, slave to Capt. Thomas Whiting, baptized Sept. 7.

1760, Frederic, at Mrs. Whiting's in Glen Town, died the last of Oct.

and was buried 2d of Nov.

1761, Ben and Ned, slaves to Mrs. Whiting, in Gloucestertown, bap-

tized March 22. 1761, WiUiam, slave to Thos. Whiting, baptized April 19. 1761, John, slave to Capt. Thos. Whiting, baptized May 24. 1761, Frank, slave to Capt. Thos. Whiting, baptized Nov. 1.

Anne Beverley, Mr. Fremont's mother, was but six months old when her father died. When her stepmother died, she went to reside with her sister Catherine, the wife of a Mr. Lowrej, one of the oldest families in Virginia, and the proprietor of the whole of Back Eiver. This change of home was one of the results of the angry litigation which had been going on between the children of Thomas Whiting and Mr. Gary, in consequence of their ineffectual efforts to get from him their respective sliares of their father's estate, and which had made Mr. Gary's house an unpleasant home for all who were interested in a distribution of the property.

Anne being the youngest, was most defenceless in the hands of Mr. Gary, and instead of being an heiress she found herself at an early age, almost dispossessed of a large proportion of the ample heritage which had been left her. When she had reached the age seventeen, her sister. Mrs. Lowry,* desiring to provide for her against what in those days and in that circle was deemed the greatest of all calamities, poverty, arranged a marriage for her with Major Pryor, also of Gloucester county, who was very rich and very gouty, and sixty-two years of age ; just forty-five years her senior.

Aside from the fatal disparity of years. Major Pryor, lacked refinement and sensibility, and was in every respect repulsive to the young creature, who was sacrificed to him. Anne resisted the importunities of her

* Mrs. Lowrey is still living, and although eighty-five years of age, is in the enjoyment of good health and unimpaired faculties. Her fii-st husband was a Lieutenant Stevenson of the Continental army, and a relative of Andrew Stevenson minister to England in 1836.

Bister as long as she could, but finally, overcome, by a sense of her homeless and dependent condition, which were constantly pressed upon her consideration, the despairing orphan yielded to her venerable suitor, and became Mrs. Major Pry or. Marriage only increased her regret for the sacrifice to which she had submitted. She became melancholy ; shunned the gay society and habits of life to which her husband was addicted, and thus dragged out twelve long years of wedded misery. By this time, as they were childless, both had become convinced that the happiness of neither would be promoted by continuing to live longer together, and they separated. As both had influential friends, the legislature of the State, which happened to be in session, promptly sanctioned their separation, by passing an act of divorce. Not long after both married again, Mrs* Pryor to Mr. Fremont, and Major Pryor, in the 76th year of his age, to his housekeeper. This connexion of course gave great dissatisfaction to the Whitings, who were one of the most aristocratic families in Yirginia, and could not understand how any person who earned his bread, especially by teaching, could be a gentleman. Put Mrs. Pryor having taken their advice once, as to her first marriage, the folly of which she had exj)iated by many long years of gilded wretchedness, determined in this instance to act for herself, and to give her heart with her hand, to one whom she esteemed worthy of both. She had some means, and he had talents, and both had courage, and they did not feel called upon at the expense of their own happiness to spare that family pride, which had not spared the gentle orphan twelve years before, when she was helpless and dependent.

22 LIFE AND SEKVICES OF JOHN C. FREMONT.

After their marriage, in the gratification of an interest which Mr. Fremont in common with most cultivated Europeans felt in the American Indians, and which the remnants of liis wife's fortune enabled him to indulge, they travelled for several years in the Southern States, where large tracts of country were still occupied by the aboriginal tribes.

The means of communication in that country then were very rude, and they travelled as was the custom of the day, when means permitted, with their own carriage, horses, and servants, stopping where convenience of towns and dwellings required, and not unfrequently passing the night in Indian villages or by a camp-fire. It was during one of these excursions that they chanced to pass the night at the inn in Nashville where occurred the personal encounter between Gen. Jackson and Col. Benton — well remembered in that country — the balk from whose pistols passed through, the rooms in which they happened to be sitting. And it was during a temporary halt at Savannah, in Georgia, in the progress of the same expedition, on the 21st of January, 1813, that Mrs. Fremont gave birth to their eldest child and son, John Charles Fremont, the subject of this memoir, who, with his father's name, seems to have inlierited also his nomadic instincts.

The second child, a daughter, was born in Tennessee, and the youngest, a son, in Virginia ; shortly after which, Mr. Fremont's preparations to return to France were defeated by his death, which occurred in the year 1818. At this time, an elder brother, Francis was in JSTorfolk, with his family. He had emigrated early from St. Domingo. The loss of his eldest son, a boy of sixteen, who was killed by the bursting of a gun at a fourth of July