Robert Louis Stevenson's Wife's Brother-in-Law Is Buried in Panama

Summary: Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson's wife, Fanny, visited her brother-in-law's grave in Panama during her 1864 crossing of the Panamanian isthmus.

"Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife," 1885 oil on canvas painted by American expatriate portrait painter John Singer Sargent (Jan. 12, 1856-April 14, 1925) at "Skerryvore," West Cliff, Westbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset, South West England; In spring 1885 pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist Thomas Stevenson (July 22, 1818-May 8, 1887) purchased "Seaview" as a gift for his daughter-in-law, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson; Thomas renamed the home "Skerryvore" (Gaelic: Gaelic words “Sgeir,” "rock" and “mhor” [“mh” pronounced “v”], "big") in honor of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, Scotland's tallest lighthouse located in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean southwest of the Inner Hebridean Island of Tiree; Scottish civil engineer Alan Stevenson (April 28, 1807-Dec. 23, 1865) designed and mostly built the lighthouse, which was finished by his younger brother, Thomas (Jacqueline M. Overton, The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls [1915], page 98); purchased Wednesday, May 19, 2004, 10:15 a.m. at Sotheby's, New York, for private collection of American casino developer and art collector Stephen "Steve" Alan Wynn (born Weinberg; Jan. 27, 1942): Public Domain, via WikiArt

Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, wife of 19th-century Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, visited the grave of her brother-in-law George S. Marshall in Panama as she crossed the Panamanian isthmus during her sea voyage from New York to California in 1864.

Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift (March 10, 1840-Feb. 18, 1914) was born Tuesday, March 10, 1840, in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the second of seven children born during the marriage (married Monday, May 14, 1838) of Jacob Van de Grift Jr. (Sep. 9, 1816-Aug. 14, 1876) and Esther Thomas Keen Van de Grift (Dec. 3, 1811-Sep. 10, 1894). The couple's first child, Henry Van de Grift (March 8, 1839) had died as an infant.

Fanny's five younger siblings comprised four sisters and one brother. The birth order first featured two sisters, Josephine Knodle Van de Grift (Nov. 21, 1842-Sep. 1, 1915) and Elizabeth "Bettie" Ellen Van de Grift (Jan. 23, 1846-Oct. 9, 1917). They were followed by Jacob and Esther's second boy, Jacob Van de Grift (Nov. 9, 1848-Feb. 14, 1923). The births of Cora Van de Grift (Nov. 12, 1852-Sep. 14, 1925) and Nellie Foster Van de Grift (Nov. 24, 1855-Jan. 4, 1935) brought the family's sororal tally to five.

As a child, Fanny was a "tomboy" who "preferred the boys' sports, the more daring the better," as biographized by Fanny's youngest sister, Nellie, in her tribute to her oldest sister, The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson (1922, page 15). "She was a high-spirited, daring creature, a little flashing firefly of a child, eagerly seeking for adventure, that might have brought upon her frequent punishment were it not that her parents held exceedingly liberal views in such matters" (page 14).

Fanny adventured with her cousin Tom. Thomas Van de Grift (July 18, 1840-Oct. 17, 1908) was the second son of seven children born during the marriage (married Thursday, Feb. 17, 1831) of John Miller Van de Grift Sr. (May 15, 1808-July 19, 1875) and Mary Worn Van de Grift (July 13, 1809-Dec. 11, 1890). Fanny's paternal Uncle John was her father's older brother and the oldest of seven children (three boys, four girls) born during the marriage (married May 28, 1807) of Jacob Van de Grift Sr. (June 10, 1785-Oct. 12, 1821) and Elizabeth Miller Van de Grift Bisbing (May 1, 1792-?).

"She roamed the woods with her cousin Tom Van de Grift, and the two kindred wild spirits climbed trees, forded streams up to their necks, did everything, in fact, that the most adventurous boy could think of" (page 15).

Fanny's coterie of friends included neighbor George S. Marshall (ca. 1840-1864). "Among Fanny's playmates there was a dark, handsome boy, with large, melancholy eyes, named George Marshall, who was not only exceedingly attractive in looks but had many other graces. He was a born artist, and could dance, and act, and sing like an angel; and, best of all, he was as good as he was charming" (page 22).

The triangle created by tag-along intrusions of the Van de Grift family's second oldest daughter, Josephine, into Fanny and George's adventures presented a scenario reminiscent of youngest sister Amy March's irritatingly shadowing her oldest sister, Josephine "Jo," and neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Laurence in their escapades, yet subsequently marrying Laurie in Little Women by American writer Louisa May Alcott (Nov. 29, 1832-March 6, 1888). In childhood Josephine pestered older sister Fanny and George's childhood romps but later, in adulthood, companioned George as his bride in 1863. "These two were close companions in all sorts of strenuous sports, and nothing annoyed them more than to have little teasing Josephine, Fanny's younger sister, trailing after them and breaking up their games. George finally announced that he would play no more unless Josephine could be kept away. But boys change, and when he grew up he married Josephine" (page 22).

Fanny married Louisville, Kentucky-born Samuel "Sam" C. Osbourne (Nov 1, 1837-March 28, 1887) on Friday, Dec. 4, 1857. "All the notables of the town, including Governor Willard, to whom young Osbourne was private secretary, and the entire staff of State officers, attended, The young bride looked charming in a handsome gown of heavy white satin. . . . The groom . . . made a gallant figure in a blue coat with brass buttons. . . ." (page 23). The couple had three children: Isobel "Belle" Stewart Osbourne (Sep. 18, 1858-June 26, 1953), Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868-May 22, 1947) and Hervey Stewart Osbourne (1871-April 5, 1876).

Both Samuel Osbourne and George Marshall served in the Union Army during the American Civil War (April 12, 1861-May 26, 1865). Due to hardships on the battlefields and ". . . a constitution never at any time robust . . .," George developed tuberculosis (pages 24-25). In January 1864 Samuel accompanied George on a doctor-recommended journey to California. Rather than the overland route, the two friends traveled oceanically by ship, with transfer from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean via a rail transit of the Isthmus of Panama (Istmo de Panamá). "The two young men, leaving their families behind them, took ship at New York for Panama; but the Angel of Death sailed with them, and Captain Marshall breathed his last while crossing the Isthmus." George succumbed to tuberculosis Saturday, Jan. 23, 1864, according to Alexandra Lapierre in Fanny Stevenson: A Romance of Destiny (1995; pages 18-19).

Samuel continued alone to California. After landing briefly in San Francisco, he moved to the mining camp of Austin in central Nevada's Lander County "in the hope of getting a foothold in the silver-mines, which were then 'booming' . . .'" (page 26). He wrote to Fanny ". . . to sell her property at once and follow him" (page 25).

Fanny and Belle also voyaged by the Panama route. They sailed from New York to north central coastal Panama. They disembarked at the Caribbean seaport of Colón, known by Americans as Aspinwall. "Crossing the Isthmus by the crookedest railroad ever seen, she stopped at Panama to visit the burial-place of the young soldier, George Marshall, her childhood playmate, beloved friend, and brother-in-law, and over that lonely grave the child for the first time saw her girlish mother shed tears" (page 25). "Captain George Marshall. 1836-1864" was inscribed on George's white cross (Alexandra Lapierre, page 26).

During residence in the western United States, Fanny and Samuel welcomed their second and third children. Yet, their marriage was troubled by Samuel's infidelities. In 1875 Fanny made the extraordinary decision to relocate to Europe with her three children. There, in 1876 in Grez-sur-Loing (Grez on Loing), ". . . a little village in Fontainebleau Forest on the River Loing . . ." (page 45), in Seine-et-Marne department, in north central France's Île-de-France region, she met and enchanted 19th-century Scottish essayist, novelist, poet and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; Nov. 13, 1850-Dec. 3, 1894), known as Louis.

In 1878 Fanny and her children returned to the United States to rejoin Samuel. The reconciliation failed, and Fanny divorced Samuel in December 1879, according to Betty J. Lane in "Fanny, the Captivating Hoosier Wife of Author Robert Louis Stevenson," published in the February 1981 issue of Hendricks County History Bulletin (page 9). In 1879 Robert Louis Stevenson journeyed to America ". . . to see the one who had become dearest in all the world to him . . ." (Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, page 55). He arrived at her home in Monterey, Monterey County, Central Coast of California, in August 1879. Fanny and Louis married Wednesday, May 19, 1880, according to "Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson (1840-1914)," published on the website of Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in St. Helena, Napa County, San Francisco Bay Area's North Bay region, Northern California (https://stevensonmuseum.org/robert-louis-stevenson/the-life/family/fanny-stevenson/).

Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne met Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson in Grez-sur-Loing ("Grez on the Loing"), département de Seine-et-Marne (Seine-and-Marne Department), région Île-de-France, north central France in 1876, 12 years after her visit to the grave of her brother-in-law, George S. Marshall, on Istmo de Panamá (Isthmus of Panama); "Fanny Osbourne at about the time of her first meeting with Robert Louis Stevenson," Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, The Life of Mrs. Robert Stevenson (1922), opposite page 48: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

"Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife," 1885 oil on canvas painted by American expatriate portrait painter John Singer Sargent (Jan. 12, 1856-April 14, 1925) at "Skerryvore," West Cliff, Westbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset, South West England; In spring 1885 pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist Thomas Stevenson (July 22, 1818-May 8, 1887) purchased "Seaview" as a gift for his daughter-in-law, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson; Thomas renamed the home "Skerryvore" (Gaelic: Gaelic words “Sgeir,” "rock" and “mhor” [“mh” pronounced “v”], "big") in honor of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, Scotland's tallest lighthouse located in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean southwest of the Inner Hebridean Island of Tiree; Scottish civil engineer Alan Stevenson (April 28, 1807-Dec. 23, 1865) designed and mostly built the lighthouse, which was finished by his younger brother, Thomas (Jacqueline M. Overton, The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls [1915], page 98); purchased Wednesday, May 19, 2004, 10:15 a.m. at Sotheby's, New York, for private collection of American casino developer and art collector Stephen "Steve" Alan Wynn (born Weinberg; Jan. 27, 1942): Public Domain, via WikiArt @ https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-singer-sargent/robert-louis-stevenson-and-his-wife-1885

Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne met Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson in Grez-sur-Loing ("Grez on the Loing"), département de Seine-et-Marne (Seine-and-Marne Department), région Île-de-France, north central France in 1876, 12 years after her visit to the grave of her brother-in-law, George S. Marshall, on Istmo de Panamá (Isthmus of Panama); "Fanny Osbourne at about the time of her first meeting with Robert Louis Stevenson," Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, The Life of Mrs. Robert Stevenson (1922), opposite page 48: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24332/24332-h/24332-h.htm; via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/lifeofmrsrobertl00sanc/page/n80/mode/1up

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