Benjamin Parke Avery

Benjamin Parke Avery was born in New York, received no formal education and was trained as a bank-note engraver.

In 1849, he relocated to California in the 1849 Gold Rush. He was a gold miner and owner of a general store until 1856, when he established a weekly newspaper in North San Juan, the Hydraulic Press. The Hyraulic Press was notable for its staunch opposition to slavery.

In 1860 he became Assistant Editor of another paper, the Marysville Appeal, and in 1861 was appointed California's State Printer by Governor Leland Stanford. In the late 1860s Avery joined the San Francisco Bulletin, and in 1872 became Editor of the Overland Monthly.

Avery was one of the founders of the San Francisco Art Association and School of Design. He was also an author and graphic artist, and his works include "Californian Pictures in Prose and Verse" and "California as I Saw It." Californian pictures in prose and verse (1878) contains his "word-sketches," which are largely confined to California scenery, although some picture Native Americans and miners whom he knew when he prospected on the Trinity River in 1850 as well as the city of San Francisco. Most of the book is devoted to poems and essays dealing with mountains of the Coast Range, the Sierra Nevadas, and the Santa Cruz range and their passes and lakes; Yosemite, upper Sacramento Valley, Mount Shasta, and the geysers.

In 1874 he was appointed US Minister to China, and he was still serving at the time of his death. He played an important role in calming China and Japan, which were then on the verge of war. He died in Beijing.

Avery was married, but had no children.

________

New York journalist Benjamin Parke Avery (1828-1875) emigrated to California and became part owner of the Marysville Appeal in the 1850s and later published a newspaper in San Francisco and served as state printer. Californian pictures in prose and verse (1878) contains his "word-sketches," which are largely confined to California scenery, although some picture Native Americans and miners whom he knew when he prospected on the Trinity River in 1850 as well as the city of San Francisco. Most of the book is devoted to poems and essays dealing with mountains of the Coast Range, the Sierra Nevadas, and the Santa Cruz range and their passes and lakes; Yosemite, upper Sacramento Valley, Mount Shasta, and the geysers.

"California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 consists of the full texts and illustrations of 190 works documenting the formative era of California's history through eyewitness accounts. The collection covers the dramatic decades between the Gold Rush and the turn of the twentieth century. It captures the pioneer experience; encounters between Anglo-Americans and the diverse peoples who had preceded them; the transformation of the land by mining, ranching, agriculture, and urban development; the often-turbulent growth of communities and cities; and California's emergence as both a state and a place of uniquely American dreams. The production of this collection was supported by a generous grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

______

also known as Benjamin P. Avery — of California.

Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., November 11, 1828. Son of Samuel Putnam Avery and Hannah (Parke) Avery; married 1861 to Mary A. Fuller.

Newspaper editor;

U.S. Minister to China, 1874-75, died in office 1875.

Died in Beijing, China, November 8, 1875.

Interment at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Calif.)

_____

BENJAMIN PARKE AVERY 11

UNITED STATES MINISTER TO CHINA

BORN IN NEW YORK NOVEMBER II, 1828, DIED IN PEKING,

CHINA, NOVEMBER 8 th , 1875

From a photograph taken in 1866

Direct descendant of William Avery 4 , who settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1650, and

Richard Warren 1 , who came in the Mayflower, 1620, and settled in Plymouth,

Mass. Also direct descendant of Richard Park 1 , who sailed from London, England,

in the ship Defence, August io th , 1635, and arrived at Boston, Mass., October 3 r(l ,

1635-

In this memorial service Rev. Dr. Hamilton of Oakland will assist. The

music at the church will be rendered by a choir from the Bohemian Club,

under the leadership of Joseph Maguire.

The Committee appointed to direct the obsequies have selected as

pall-bearers the following named gentlemen: Major-General John M.

Schofield, U. S. A.; Major-General James Coey, N. G. C.; United States

Circuit Judge, Lorenzo Sawyer; United States District Judge, Ogden

Hoffman; United States Collector of Customs, Thomas Shannon; United

States Naval Officer, Edwin G. Waite; ex-Governor Frederick F. Low;

ex-Governor Leland Stanford; I. Friedlander, President of the Chamber

of Commerce, and Pay-Director John S. Cunningham, U. S. N.

General Schofield made a requisition upon the commander of the

National Guard for a regiment of militia, and the following companies,

under command of Colonel George W. Granniss, have been detailed in

accordance with the order:

Emmet Guard, Co. E, Third Infantry, Captain Robert Cleary.

MacMahon Grenadier Guard, Co. H, Third Infantry, Captain John

H. McMenomy.

Sumner Light Guard, Co. E, First Infantry, Captain H. J. Burns.

Franklin Light Infantry, Co. D, First Infantry, Captain R. H. Orton.

San Francisco Fusileers, Co. C, Second Infantry, Captain George Cantus.

Germania Rifles, Co. D, Second Infantry, Captain G. D. Von Senden.

The Sumner Light Guard or the Franklin Light Infantry will accom-

pany the body to the cemetery, and fire the volleys over the grave.

A Tientsin newspaper of November 23 rd says: "The remains of the

late Hon. B. P. Avery were transferred this afternoon from the United

States Consulate to the United States steamer Monocacy, which is to

convey them to Shanghai. The procession formed at 3 o'clock. The

coffin, covered with the national flag, was placed on two gun-carriages

sent from the Monocacy, and drawn by a company of twelve seamen. A

guard of honor from the same vessel consisting of eighty men preceded

the bier with reversed arms. At the right of the coffin were members of

the Consular staff and two Chinese officials, and at the left, the com-

manders of the men-of-war in port, who acted as bearers. Following the

remains were the British Minister, Mr. Wade; Mr. Holcombe, Acting

Secretary of the United States Legation and now in charge; Consul Shep-

pard and Vice-Consul Pethick, as mourners. Then came other naval

officers, the American and other foreign residents. While the procession

was forming, the United States Consular flag was run up to the top of the

staff; just preceding the order to march, it was dropped to half-mast,

and at the same moment minute guns commenced firing on board the

Monocacy, and continued till the regular salute of nineteen guns due

the rank of the lamented Minister had been fired. Mrs. Avery accom-

panied the remains of her husband, and goes to Shanghai in the Monocacy.

Companies from the English, Russian and French gunboats, drawn up

[59]

on the bund, saluted the remains as they passed by, presenting arms and

rolling the drum.

A goodly number of the foreign residents of Tientsin were in attendance.

Altogether rather an imposing spectacle was presented to the interested

gaze of the Chinese crowd which gathered to witness the ceremonies.

On the I st of December the remains were landed at Shanghai from the

corvette Monocacy and removed to the United States Consulate General,

where they lay in state, awaiting transmission to San Francisco. The

only ceremony observed was that the naval officers superintending the

landing were in full uniform, the national flag was dropped half-mast and

minute-guns were fired. San Francisco Chronicle, January 25 th , 1876.

God rest thy soul!

O, kind and pure,

Tender of heart, yet strong to wield control,

And to endure!

Close the clear eyes!

No greater woe

Earth's patient heart, than when a good man dies,

Can ever know.

With us is night

Toil without rest;

But where thy gentle spirit walks in light,

The ways are blest.

God's peace be thine!

God's perfect peace!

Thy meed of faithful service, until time

And death shall cease.

Just as our last form goes to press, news comes of the death of Hon.

BENJAMIN P. AVERY, United States Minister to China, and late editor of

the Overland. The shock is so sudden we can hardly realize our friend

has gone from our gaze forever. Have the cruel wires lied, or has his

gentle spirit passed from this world of care and pain to "the land where

all is peace"?

Mr. Avery was in many respects a remarkable man. He typified the

ripest fruitage of our western thought and culture. He was essentially

Californian, but he represented the finer feminine side of California

California in those gentler moods of which we see too little. He had the

freshness without the brusqueness of the frontier spirit. Perhaps no one

person did so much to educate the people of the State in the right direc-

tion to lift the thoughts of men above the sordid interests of the hour

and the mean ambitions of personal gain. He embodied in his life and

character that spirit of a broader culture, purer morals, and loftier aims

which constitute the basis of all healthy growth. He loved California

with an almost idolatrous love, but lamented its hard materialism, and

[60]

strove to make it more worthy of its great destiny. And he was un-

wearying in his efforts to elevate and refine. The hours that other workers

gave to rest and recreation he devoted to the building up of new aesthetic

interests and the study of those gentler arts that uplift society and

smooth down the sharp angles of our western life. He was one of those

rare men who are estimated rather below than above their true value.

His modesty made him shy; and some people, who but half knew him,

made the mistake of thinking he lacked force. No man was more firm

in upright purpose could be more courageous in the assertion of honest

conviction. His adherence to principle was firm and uncompromising.

He was constitutionally incapable of putting a falsehood in print, or

perverting facts to partisan uses. His pen was never soiled by an attack

upon private character. He abhorred with all the intensity of a pure soul

the personalities of journalism.

His capacity for work was marvelous. We cannot recall a journalist,

with perhaps the exception of the late Henry J. Raymond, who could

write so rapidly, yet so pointedly and correctly. His well-stored mind

poured forth its treasures in a rapid-flowing copious stream. He was

equally ready in all departments of journalistic activity. He was an

admirable dramatic critic, was well versed in the elementary principles

of music, while in the specialty of art criticism he was without a rival

among Californian writers. His editorials were models of clear state-

ment and strong but elegant English, while all that he wrote was per-

vaded by a certain spirit of candor and a power of moral conscience that

compelled attention and carried conviction. While the prevailing tone

of his mind was serious, few writers could be more delightfully playful,

more charmingly humorous.

Socially Mr. Avery was very lovable. In him all the virtues seemed

harmoniously combined. He was absolutely without guile, as he was

without vices. His heart overflowed with love for his fellows. He could

not bear to think ill of any one, and if a sense of public duty compelled

him to criticise, it was done so kindly, so regretfully, that censure lost

half its sting. And his friendships were so firm and steadfast, his trust in

those he loved, so deep and unquestioning! Who that has felt the grasp

of his manly hand, and looked into the quiet depths of his kindly eye,

can ever forget the subtile influence that crept like a balm into his soul?

He lived in and for his friends. Caring little for general society, his social

world was bounded by a charmed circle of intimates. He was such a

delightful companion; so fresh and bright and genial, so apt in repartee,

so quaintly witty, so rich in various learning without taint of pedantry.

To know him, to be much in his society, to feel the sweet influence of his

pure life, was a boon and blessing. He is dead; but the seed of thought

and culture he has sown has not fallen on barren ground. His work survives

him. The interests he promoted and the institutions he helped found,

are living monuments of his beneficent activity. We shall see him no

more in the flesh, but his spirit will long be a pervading presence to hosts

of loving hearts. San Francisco Overland Monthly, December, 1875.

_____

Newspaper Editor, Author, Diplomat. He was trained as a wood engraver and relocated to California in the 1849 Gold Rush. He was a gold miner and owner of a general store until 1856, when he established a weekly newspaper in North San Juan, the Hydraulic Press. In 1860 he became Assistant Editor of another paper, the Marysville Appeal, and in 1861 was appointed California's State Printer. In the late 1860s Avery joined the San Francisco Bulletin, and in 1872 became Editor of the Overland Monthly. Avery was one of the founders of the San Francisco Art Association and School of Design. He was also an author and graphic artist, and his works include "Californian Pictures in Prose and Verse" and "California as I Saw It." In 1874 he was appointed US Minister to China, and he was still serving at the time of his death. (bio by: Bill McKern)