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Title: Josephine Simoneau Fussel Collection
Dates: 1902-1968
Collection Number: ARC 504
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 45 items, .1 linear ft.
Repository:
Monterey Public Library
Monterey, California 93940
Abstract: Josephine Simoneau Fussell, daughter of Jules Simoneau, received and compiled most of the letters and other family memorabilia.
Jules Simoneau's great grandson, Tom Ussery, and his wife Gia Ussery, donated the materials to the Robert Louis Stevenson
Club of Monterey. The Stevenson Club donated the collection to the California History Room of the Monterey Public Library
on the behalf of the Usserys.
Language of Material: English
Access by appointment only; contact Local History Librarian or designated staff.
Reproduction by Local History Librarian or other designated staff; may be restricted due to condition of the materials.
[Identification of item]. Josephine Simoneau Fussel Collection. Collection Number: ARC 504. Monterey Public Library
Donated by the Robert Louis Stevenson Club of Monterey, Maureen A. Bianchini, Chair, on October 5, 1998.
Biography/Administrative History
Josephine Simoneau Fussell was born Feb 23, 1877 in Monterey, California and died May 23, 1973, also in Monterey. She was
the daughter of Jules Simoneau and Martina Feliz. Jules Simoneau, a French restaurateur, born in Nantes, immigrated to California
and was a pioneer of Monterey, California. Simoneau befriended Robert Louis Stevenson during his stay in Monterey during
1879. His daughter, Josephine, lived all her life in Monterey, residing in the Simoneau House at 456 Van Buren Street. She
married Manuel Machado. After Machado's death during the First World War, she married Thomas Fussell. She was known locally
as "Mrs. Monterey" and was known for her wealth of information about early Monterey. She was a member of what was called
the "Larkin Street Gang" of early pioneer Montereyans. Although only two years old at the time of her father's contact with
Stevenson, Mrs. Fussell was a frequent resource for the story of her father's friendship and care of the writer, who was ill
at the time.
Isobel "Belle" Osborne Field was the daughter of Fanny Osborne and stepdaughter of Robert Louis Stevenson. With her mother,
sister, and aunt, she stayed a few months in Monterey at the boarding house of Maria Ygnacia Bonifacio, known as the Sherman
Rose, in 1879. Stevenson followed Mrs. Osborne, whom he later married, to Monterey. Isobel Osborne married artist Joseph
Dwight Strong who also resided in Monterey for a period. After his death, she married Edward Salisbury Field and lived in
Santa Barbara. She authored a memoir describing her life and experiences, including her time with Robert Louis Stevenson.
She died June 26, 1953, in Santa Barbara.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Collection includes the correspondence and memorabilia of Josephine Simoneau and Isobel Osbourne Field. Most of the correspondence,
greeting and sympathy cards, programs, printed matter and other memorabilia relate to Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Simoneau.
Other correspondents include author Ann Fisher and Louis Sanchez. The collection includes several programs from anniversary
celebrations in honor of Stevenson (1902-1905), which Jules Simoneau attended, a photograph of Stevenson signed by Fanny Osborne
Stevenson, and other materials connected to Stevenson and Simoneau. The sympathy cards, received at the time of Jules Simoneau's
death, include cards sent by Mrs. Fanny Osborne Stevenson, her son Lloyd Osborne, and her sister Fanny Sanchez.
Included in the collection is the pamphlet, A Bit of My Life, with Christmas Greeting, 1951, written by Isobel Field, and
a deck of fortune telling cards, designed by Isobel Field or "Teuila," the native name given to her during the Stevensons'
residence in Samoa. Several schoolbooks used by Josephine Simoneau and other local residents in the 1880s to early 1900s
are also present, as well as her scrapbooks and day diaries. (A most charming surprise in the collection is a small leather
bag of Josephine's childhood jacks.)
Josephine Simoneau Fussel
Jules Simoneau
Martina Feliz
Robert Luis Stevenson
Manuel Machado
Thomas Fussel
Isobelle "Belle" Osborne Field
Fanny Osborne
Robert Louis Stevenson
Maria Ygnacia Bonifacio
Joseph Dwight Strong
Edward Salisbury Field
Ann Fisher
Louis Sanchez
Lloyd Osborne
Fanny Sanchez
Larkin Street Gang
Sherman Rose
Monterey, California
Santa Barbara, California
University of California, Berkeley
A Bit of My Life, with Christmas Greeting, 1951