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Charles Warren Stoddard (August 7, 1843 April 23, 1909) was an American author and editor best known for his travel books about
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
n life.


Biography

Charles Warren Stoddard was born in Rochester,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
on August 7, 1843. He was descended in a direct line from Anthony Stoddard of England, who settled at
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, in 1639. While he was still a child, he moved with his parents to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In 1855, the family migrated to
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
when his father found a job at a mercantile firm. Stoddard was 11 and was immediately smitten with the city and, as he recalled, its "natural tendency to overdress, to over-decorate, to overdo almost everything". In 1857, he joined his ill brother Ned on a restorative trip in the East Coast, where they stayed at their grandfather's farm in western New York. He rejoined his family in San Francisco by 1859. Stoddard began writing verses at a young age amid the growing literary climate of California. His first published work saw print in '' The Golden Era'' for September 1862 under the pseudonym "Pip Pepperpod". He later recalled how he clandestinely slipped his contribution into the ''Eras mailbox without anyone knowing: "No member of my family suspected that I was so bold as to dream of entering the circle of the elect who wrote regularly every week for the chief literary organ west of the Rocky Mountains". His writings were well received and were later published as ''Poems by Charles Warren Stoddard''. Poor health compelled him to give up his plans for a college education. He tried a career on the stage without success.


Polynesia

In 1864, he visited the South Sea Islands and there wrote ''South-Sea Idyls'', a series of letters he sent to a friend. This friend had them published in book form in 1873. "They are," wrote
William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...
, "the lightest, sweetest, wildest, freshest things that were ever written about the life of that summer ocean." He made four other trips to the South Sea Islands, and wrote his impressions in ''Lazy Letters from Low Latitudes'' and ''The Island of Tranquil Delights''. Stoddard visited
Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a us ...
several times and became well acquainted with
Father Damien Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. or Saint Damien De Veuster ( nl, Pater Damiaan or '; 3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sac ...
–a Catholic saint since 2009–who ministered to the lepers there. Stoddard's ''The Lepers of Molokai'', according to
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
, did much to establish Father Damien's position in public esteem. In 1867, soon after his first visit to the South Sea Islands, Stoddard was received into the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. He told the story of his conversion in a small book, ''A Troubled Heart and How it was Comforted'', of which he said: "Here you have my inner life all laid bare."


Friends

In 1867, Stoddard converted to Catholicism. In 1869, he became good friends with travel writer
Theresa Yelverton Theresa Yelverton (''née'' Maria Theresa Longworth; – 13 September 1881) was an English writer who became notorious because of her involvement in the '' Yelverton case'', a 19th-century Irish law case, which eventually resulted in a change t ...
. In 1873, he started on a long tour as special correspondent of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
''. His
roving commission A roving commission details the duties of a commissioned officer or other official whose responsibilities are neither geographically nor functionally limited. Where an individual in an official position is given more freedom than would regularly be ...
carried no restrictions of any kind. For five years he traveled through Europe and went as far east as Palestine and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
. He sent considerable material to his newspaper, much of which it never printed, though some of it was among his best work. Around 1880, Stoddard served co-editor of the ''
Overland Monthly The ''Overland Monthly'' was a monthly literary and cultural magazine, based in California, United States. It was founded in 1868 and published between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. History The '' ...
'' with
Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...
and Ina Coolbrith. In 1891, Stoddard spent the summer aboard the yacht "Ramona" owned by Bohemian Club darling Harry Gillig and his wife, heiress Aimee Crocker sailing the Atlantic Coast. Other guests of the pleasure boat was painter
Theodore Wores Theodore Wores (August 1, 1859 – September 11, 1939) was an American painter born in San Francisco, son of Joseph Wores and Gertrude Liebke. His father worked as a hat manufacturer in San Francisco. Life Wores began his art training at age tw ...
, playwrights
Augustus Thomas Augustus Thomas (January 8, 1857 – August 12, 1934) was an American playwright. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri and son of a doctor, Thomas worked a number of jobs including as a page in the 41st Congress, studying law, and gaining some ...
and
Clay Greene Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay parti ...
, editor Jerome Hart, and actor
Henry Woodruff Henry Ingott Woodruff (June 1, 1869 – October 6, 1916) was an American stage and silent film actor. He's remembered for starring in the original Broadway play '' Brown of Harvard'' in 1905. Early life He was born the son of Samuel V. Woodruff, ...
.


Notre Dame

In 1885, having decided to settle down, he accepted the position of chair of English literature department at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
. He resigned, officially citing
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...
. According to literary historian Roger Austen has written that the real reason behind Stoddard's decision was the Catholic Church's position on homosexuality. The same reason caused him to resign a corresponding position that he held at the
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
in Washington, D.C. from 1889 to 1902. In a short time he moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, intending to devote himself exclusively to literary work. A serious and almost fatal illness interfered with his plans. He published his ''Exits and Entrances'', a book of essays and sketches which he called his favorite work, probably because it told of his friendship with Stevenson and of other literary acquaintances. In April 1903, he returned to San Francisco and was the guest of honor at a welcome-home party at the
Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journ ...
with
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
and
Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...
in attendance. He then settled in
Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under b ...
, with a hope of recovering his health, although he traveled within California and was in San Francisco during the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity ...
and fire. He stayed on in Monterey, where he was diagnosed with heart disease, until his death from a heart attack on April 23, 1909.


Private life

Stoddard was
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
. He praised South Sea societies' receptiveness to homosexual liaisons and lived in relationships with men. From San Francisco, late in 1866, Stoddard sent his newly published ''Poems'' to
Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a ...
, along with news that in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
he had found no traces of Melville. Having written even more fervently to
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
, Stoddard had been excited by '' Typee'', finding the Kory-Kory character so stimulating that he wrote a story celebrating the sort of male friendships to which Melville had more than once alluded. From the poems Stoddard sent, Melville may have sensed no homosexual undercurrent, and the extant draft of his reply in January 1867 is noncommittal. Francis Millet, a well-regarded American Academic Classicist artist, had a studio in Rome in the early 1870s and Venice in the mid-1870s, where he lived with Stoddard. Historian Jonathan Ned Katz presents letters from Millet to Stoddard that suggest they had a romantic and intimate affair while living a
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
life together.
Amy Sueyoshi Amy Sueyoshi is the provost of San Francisco State University. Sueyoshi is a trained historian specializing in sexuality, gender, and race. Her publications and lectures focus on issues regarding race and sexuality such as cross-dressing, pornog ...
additionally traces Stoddard's affair with Yone Noguchi through their passionate correspondence to one another. In the film ''
Leonie Leonie or Léonie is a Latin-origin feminine given name meaning "lioness", from the masculine personal name ''Leon'' (meaning "lion"). Leonie evolved to Léonie in France. It is rare as a surname. People People with the name or its variants in ...
'', Stoddard (portrayed by Patrick Weathers) is shown being flirtatious with the character Yone Noguchi.


Works

He said of his only novel, ''For the Pleasure of His Company'', "Here you have my Confessions." So strictly biographical are most of his writings that Stoddard hoped by supplying a few missing links to enable the reader to trace out the whole story of his life. Besides the books already mentioned, he wrote: * ''Summer Cruising in the south Seas'' (1874) * ''Marshallah, a Flight into Egypt'' (1885); * ''A Trip to Hawaii'' (1885) * ''In the Footprints of the Padres'' (1902) * ''Cruising among the Caribbees'' (1893) * ''Hawaiian Life'' (1894) * ''Saint Anthony, The Wonder-Worker of Padua'' (1896) * ''A Cruise under the Crescent'' (1898) * ''Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska'' (1899) * ''Father Damien, a Sketch'' (1903) * ''With Staff and Scrip'' (1904) * ''Hither and Yon'' * ''The Confessions of a Reformed Poet'' (1907) * ''The Dream Lady'' (1907)


References


External links

* * *
1905 Article with photos
*
Peter Garland, "Charles Warren Stoddard", ''Bay Area Reporter'' (August 7, 2014)

Guide to the Collection of Charles Warren Stoddard
at
The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoddard, Charles Warren 1843 births 1909 deaths Writers from Rochester, New York American Roman Catholics American people of English descent 19th-century American poets American travel writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 19th-century American memoirists University of Notre Dame faculty Catholic University of America faculty American reporters and correspondents Converts to Roman Catholicism American gay writers American LGBT poets American LGBT novelists LGBT Roman Catholics LGBT people from New York (state) 20th-century American poets American male poets 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American male writers Journalists from New York (state) Novelists from California Journalists from California Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Indiana 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters