MCLOUGHLIN LETTERS, 1827-49[1]
EDITED by Jane Lewis Chapin
When Dr. McLoughlin came to take charge of the Columbia department of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1824, he left his son John and daughter Eliza in Canada. His uncle Dr. Simon Fraser undertook arrangements for their education. The daughter was sent to a convent in Quebec where Dr. McLoughlin's sister was a nun. Some time later she married a Mr. Epps. After some uncertainty as to a suitable career for John, it was decided, in 1829, to send him to Paris to study medicine under the protection of his uncle, David McLoughlin, a successful physician there. His first letters back to his uncle, Dr. Fraser, and to his cousin, John Fraser, show an enthusiasm and application for his studies. However, due to some misconduct which was considered too grave to be overlooked, his uncle David sent him back to Canada. After an erratic career, in which he incurred the extreme displeasure of his father and his uncle Simon, he was taken into the service of the Hudson's Bay Company and went to Fort Vancouver in 1837. In 1840 he was sent to the company's new fort at Stikine, and it was there he met his tragic death.
The originals of these letters are in McLoughlin House, Oregon City. The first of the series, dating from 1805 to 1826, and all written by Dr. McLoughlin, were printed in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, December, 1935.
DR. SIMON FRASER TO DR. JOHN MCLOUGHLIN
My Dear Nephew
Soon after writing you the 24 Apl 1826 I was informed that your draft had been honored, and at the same time that Messrs McKenzie Bethune & Co to whom I had given it had failed. I had a little before requested Mr. McKenzie pay to Mr. Esom £25. 15. 10 Curry (Currency] which was paid prior to his failing, which is all I have as yet been able to recover of that draft, but expect to get a dividend along with their other Creditors,
- ↑ Mrs. Chapin received these letters for McLoughlin House from a granddaughter of Alexander Fraser.—Editor, Quarterly.
