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Contributing Institution:
Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: Fremont Family Collection
Creator:
Frémont Family
Creator:
Lummis, Charles Fletcher
Creator:
Frémont, Lily
Creator:
Frémont, John Charles
Creator:
Frémont, Jessie Benton
Creator:
Benton, Thomas Hart
Identifier/Call Number: MS.217
Physical Description:
3.6 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1836-1960
Abstract: John Charles Fremont (1813-1890) was an American military officer during the Civil War, explorer of the Western United States,
United States presidential candidate and an opponent of slavery. Fremont's wife, Jessie Benton Fremont (1824-1902) was an
American writer and daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Their firstborn daughter Elizabeth (Lily) Benton Fremont
(1842-1919) participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1912. This collection of
papers was compiled from donations from Elizabeth B. Fremont, as well as Southwest Museum curatorial and library staff, with
documents spanning from 1836-1919. Materials include correspondence, etchings, certificates, manuscripts, maps, and newspaper
clippings by and about members of the John C. Fremont family.
Language of Material:
English
, French
, German
, Latin
.
Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit
https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Fremont Family Collection, 1836-1960, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.217; [folder number] [folder
title][date].
Initial processing by Braun Library Staff. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Project Archivist, August 28,
2012, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
This collection of papers was compiled from donations from Elizabeth B. Fremont, as well as Southwest Museum curatorial and
library staff.
The majority of the materials in Box 1 span from 1836-1919 and include correspondence, etchings, certificates, newspaper clippings,
manuscripts, and other papers either generated by John C. Fremont, Jessie B. Fremont, or Elizabeth B. Fremont, or dealing
directly with one of the members of the Fremont family. These materials include a political songbook from John C. Fremont's
campaign for presidency, and two federal reports made to the Secretary of the Interior by John C. Fremont as Governor of the
Arizona territory in 1878 and 1879.
Materials in Box 1 date mostly from 1901 and 1957 and are mostly comprised of biographical articles and newspaper clippings
written about the members of the Fremont family.
Box 3 contains oversized items, including maps that John C. Fremont drew from his expeditions in the Western United States,
certificates for honorary memberships for John C. Fremont, and military commissions from the Presidents of the United States
of America, documenting John C. Fremont's military promotions between 1838 and 1890.
- Box 1: Primary resource materials
- Box 2: Biographical publications
- Box 3: Oversize items
Donation by Elizabeth Benton Frémont and others, 1915-1960.
John Charles Fremont, born January 12, 1813 in Savannah, Georgia, was an American military officer, explorer, United States
presidential candidate, and an opponent of slavery. In 1838, Fremont was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical
Engineers, and he led expeditions through the western part of the United States. From 1842 to 1846, Fremont led expeditions
through the Oregon Trail and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, leading to the San Joaquin Valley. His journals of these expeditions,
especially the second, were wildly popular. The accounts of the two expeditions were printed together for the Congress as
Report of the Exploring Expedition in the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the years
1843-1844
. Fremont was also involved in gold mining in California but this venture eventually foundered. Fremont's most notable political
accomplishments include serving as one of California's first two U. S. senators from 1850-1851 and being governor of the Arizona
Territory from 1878-1881. Fremont died July 13, 1890 at the age of 77. Fremont married United States senator Thomas Hart Benton's
daughter Jessie in 1841. Jessie B. Fremont, born May 31, 1824, was an American writer who supplemented the family income as
a freelance writer. Some of Jessie's most popular publications were memoirs of her time accompanying her husband on his expeditions
in the American West. Jessie Benton Fremont died December 27, 1902. Their daughter Elizabeth (Lily) Benton Fremont was born
November 15, 1842 and died May 28, 1919.
John C. Fremont purchased land in the San Francisco Bay Area known as Black Point and built a house there for his family around
1860. When the Civil War started, the military claimed the land at Black Point, now Fort Mason, and the Fremonts were never
reimbursed for their land. Future generations of the Fremont family, including grandson Benton Fremont, continued to fight
for payment for the estate.
After John C. Fremont's death, Jessie and Elizabeth Fremont settled in Los Angeles. They became friends with Charles F. Lummis,
who also tried to fight on their behalf for the money owed them by the U.S. government. Because of her relationship with
Lummis, Elizabeth Fremont had a great role in the ground-breaking ceremony at the Southwest Museum on November 16, 1912. Elizabeth
had the flag her father had raised on the crest of the Rocky Mountains in 1842, and she donated it to the Southwest Society
in 1905, as a gift for the forthcoming Southwest Museum. At the groundbreaking ceremony for the museum in 1912, Elizabeth
Fremont raised this flag and then turned over the first shovel of earth for the actual breaking of ground for the Southwest
Museum building.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
West (U.S.) -- Discovery and exploration
Explorers -- West (U.S.)
United States. Army -- History
Maps
Arizona Territory
Presidents -- Elections
Certificates
Etchings
Presidential candidates
Correspondence
Songbooks
Manuscripts
Clippings
Frémont, Jessie Benton
Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Frémont Family
Frémont, John Charles