Kate Stevens Bates papers , 1860-1941

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bates, Kate Stevens, 1852-1941
Title
Kate Stevens Bates papers
Dates
1860-1941 (inclusive)
Quantity
6 linear feet, (4 containers)
Collection Number
Ax 202
Summary
Kate Stevens Bates was an author. The collection includes her correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, account books, and scrapbooks. The diaries span from 1880 to 1936. Her diary entries are not regular; often several weeks pass between entries. The correspondence spans from 1878 to 1934 and concerns family matters, business, and social news.
Repository
University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.

Additional Reference Guides

See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Kate Stevens Bates lived from 1852 to 1941. She grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, and Dorchester, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Isaac Ingalls Stevens, governor of the Washington Territory from 1853 to 1857. She was married to Edward Wingard Bingham in 1886. After her first marriage, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where her husband had a home and a mother. E. W. Bingham and his brother John invented an improved horseshoe, and went to Boston and New York to promote it. They founded the Bingham Sectional Horseshoe Company. Kate Bingham accompanied her husband, and lived in Dorchester and New York from 1887-1888. The horseshoe business failed, so the couple returned to Portland, Oregon in 1888, where Mr. Bingham practiced law. His most famous case was the Terwilliger will case. He also was involved in ballot reform. Mrs. Bingham was a member of the Unitarian Society in Portland, prominent socially, and an amateur writer for newspapers and magazines. The diaries refer to such prominent Portlanders as the Strongs, Eliots, Deadys, Catlins, Griswolds, Failings, and McArthurs. At various times she and her husband visited Bingham Springs in Eastern Oregon and she visited friends in Olympia, Washington. Both places are fully described in her diaries. Mr. Bingham died in 1904, and in 1913 she married James H. S. Bates. After her second marriage, Mrs. Bates lived for a time in Massachusetts and after 1918 at Cloverfield Farms, near Olympia, Washington.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Kate Stevens Bates papers include correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, and miscellaneous papers. Correspondence concerns family matters, business matters, and social news. Correspondence includes letters to Edward W. Bingham (1886-1904), Hazard Stevens (1878-1916), Mrs. Isaac I. Stevens (1878-1913), and Maud Stevens (1912-1927) and letters from James H. Bates (1912- 1927), Edward W. Bingham (1885-1903), Helen Eskridge (1916-1940), Richard Eskridge (1916-1940), Edmond S. Meany (1902-1934), Hazard Stevens (1886-1918), Mrs. Issac I. Stevens (1888-1913) and others. Diaries of Kate Stevens (Bingham-Bates) are included for 1880-1881, 1885-1902, 1913-1915, 1918, 1920-1922, 1924-1932, 1935-1936. Her diary entries are not regular. Manuscripts include travel and historical articles (1883-1930) by Kate S. Bates. Miscellaneous papers include a scrapbook of E. W. Bingham containing publications of and articles about the Ballot Reform League of Oregon (1890-1892), and account books.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Bates, James H. S.
  • Bingham, Edward Wingard, -1904
  • Dye, Eva Emery, 1855-1947
  • Meany, Edmond S. (Edmond Stephen), 1862-1935
  • Stevens, Hazard, 1842-1918
  • Stevens, Isaac Ingalls, 1818-1862
  • Stevens, Margaret Lyman

Corporate Names

  • Ballot Reform League of Oregon
  • Unitarian Society (Portland, Or.)

Geographical Names

  • Bingham Springs (Or.)
  • Olympia (Wash.)
  • Portland (Or.)--Social life and customs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Scrapbooks