Frémont, Jessie Benton, 1824-1902

Writer of books and articles; wife of John C. Frémont, accompanied him on several expeditions to the West co-authoring accounts of the travels. Campaigned with her husband during his 1856 candidacy for President. Later he was Territorial Governor of Arizona from 1878 to 1883.

From the description of Frémont correspondence, 1871-1906 (bulk 1898-1906). (Arizona Historical Society, Southern Arizona Division). WorldCat record id: 36854955

American author; wife of John Charles Frémont.

From the description of Autograph letters signed (4) : New Brighton, Staten Island, etc., to Harper & Brothers, 1878 Mar. 4-1878 Jun. 7. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270752102

Mrs. Jessie Benton Freḿont, wife of explorer, one-time California Senator (1850-1851), Presidential candidate (1856) and Arizona Territorial Governor (1878-1903), John Charles Freḿont (1813-1890). The Freḿonts lived in Los Angeles at time this letter written. There, General Freḿont was employed as a promoter of various western railway projects.

From the description of Jessie Benton Freḿont letter, 1888. (University of the Pacific). WorldCat record id: 34729531

Jessie Benton Frémont was the daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, wife of John Charles Frémont, and author of several publications including Far-west sketches (c.1890).

From the description of Letters of Jessie Benton Frémont, 1897-1898. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122510360

Explorer, candidate for the U.S. presidency (1856), general in Union army during the Civil War (1861-1865).

From the guide to the Frémont letters, 1861-1890, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

Biographical Note

John Charles Frémont (1813-1890) first gained public attention through his participation in and eventual leadership of scientific and mapping expeditions in the American West (1838, 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1845). In 1841 he married Jessie Ann Benton (1824-1902), the daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who was an advocate of United States expansion into the West and a political supporter of his son-in-law's expeditions, which received Congressional backing. Jessie Benton Frémont assisted in the writing of her husband's 1844 expedition report, which enjoyed popularity with the general public, and with his subsequent writings. During his final expedition, Frémont became involved in California's uprising against Mexico. He was appointed military governor of California, but later was arrested and court-martialed in Washington, D.C., in 1847-1848 for disobedience. His penalty was set aside by President James K. Polk and he and Jessie moved to California in 1849. They became wealthy after the discovery of gold on their Las Mariposas land grant. In 1850, Frémont was elected senator from the new state of California and served briefly in that office. He ran as the first presidential candidate of the Republican party in 1856 on a free-soil anti-slavery platform. He served as a Union general in the Department of the West during the Civil War. Frémont was governor of the Arizona terrritory, 1878-1883. He died in New York City in 1890. The Frémonts suffered economic reversals and in later years were supported primarily through Jessie Benton Frémont's writings. During the 1870s through the 1890s she authored books, stories, and many articles that appeared in leading magazines. She died in Los Angeles, California, in 1902.

From the guide to the John Charles Frémont and Jessie Benton Frémont Papers, 1828-1980, (bulk 1835-1890), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Mrs. Darling was born in New Hampshire in 1840, a descendant of Henry Adams who settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1636. She married Col. Edward Irving Darling, 22 years her senior, in 1860, and went with him to live at his Louisiana home. He died of wounds received in battle, December 2, 1863. Her only son was Edward Erving Darling, a minor musician-composer, who died July 13, 1894. Mrs. Darling suffered from repeated attacks of malarial fever and, after 1876, from deafness. Her years of widowhood were spent in writing Mrs. Darling's Letters, or Memoirs of the Civil War A Social Diplomat and other books.

From 1889 to 1896 her major interests and efforts were devoted to the founding of women's patriotic societies. Mrs. Darling's obsession for organizing and ruling patriotic societies, and her willingness to abandon one when her opinion or desires were thwarted, is illustrated by the rapid succession with which the societies followed each other: Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) founded October 11, 1890; Daughters of the Revolution (D.R.) founded June 18, 1891; Daughters of the United States of the War of 1812, founded January 8, 1892; founded because of disagreement over policies of the D. A. R., policies adopted over the protest of Mrs. Darling. This collection is composed almost entirely of letters written to her during these years of controversy. There are some delightful, pithy and well-written letters in the group.

From the guide to the Flora Adams Darling Papers, 1862-1908, (Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary)