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Cage 60
George Benson Kuykendall
Papers, 1881-1931

The papers of George Benson Kuykendall, physician of Pomeroy, Washington were donated to the Washington State University Library in 1949 by Dr. Kuykendall’s son, Judge Elgin V. Kuykendall.

BIOGRAPHY

George Benson Kuykendall was born in Indiana in 1843 and emigrated to Oregon with is parents in 1852. He graduated from the Willamette University Medical School in 1872 and began his first medical practice as Agency Physician on the Yakima Indian Reservation at Fort Simcoe, Washington. In 1883 he left the Indian Agency and established an independent practice at Pomeroy, Washington, where he remained until his retirement in 1920. He died at Portland, Oregon, in 1939.

While at Fort Simcoe, Kuykendall began collecting Indian legends and stories. In later years this project was to be expanded into an effort at collecting local history and reminiscences. Some of Kuykendall’s historical and ethnological writing can be found in The West Shore (1887) and the Oregon Historical Quarterly (1918). Although Kuykendall continued to collect some local and personal history until the mid-1920s, about 1905 the main object of his research became a genealogy and history of the Kuykendall Family in North American. The family history proved to be a large project and ultimately it involved 15 years of research and considerable travel. Eventually, Kuykendall was able to trace his ancestors to New York in 1650 and was able to establish the connections between the Kuykendalls, Coykendalls, Kirkendalls and other variant names. The results were published in 1919 in a 700 page volume printed by Kilham Stationery and Printing Company of Portland. Not satisfied with a simple genealogy, Kuykendall attempted to make the family history more completed by interspersing American social history in such a way as to provide the backdrop for the lives of the various generation of Kuykendalls. His effort, however, were not very successful and the result was an unconnected section of the book filled with several chapters of social history, some of it of rather legendary nature. Additionally the book contained long passages consisting of quotations of letters which Kuykendall received in response to inquiries for information. As he neither transferred the information from the letters to a narrative nor completed the attempted at social history, the book appears to have been published before it was complete, with large portions of it appearing more like notes than a completed text.

Disregarding the literary merit of the volume, it does contain considerable information about many plain Americans over a span of 250 years. Moreover, while it may not be the best of the lot, it is exemplary of the products coming out of the wave of genealogical activity in the United States in the early years of the 20th Century. The complete title is: History of the Kuykendall Family since its Settlement in Dutch New York in 1646, With Genealogy as Found in Early Dutch Church Records, State and Government Documents, Together With Sketches of Colonial Times, Old Log Cabin Days, Indian Wars, Pioneers Hardships, Social Customs, Dress and Mode of Living of the Early Forefathers (Portland, Ore.: Kilham Stationery and Printing Company, 1919). (See Smith, 1950, no. 5613).

DESCRIPTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAPERS

The greater portion of the papers of George B. Kuykendall consist of notes, drafts, correspondence and photographs used in the preparation, publication, sale and distribution of the Kuykendall Family history. Additionally the collection contains Kuykendall’s personal correspondence for the years 1903-18. Also among his personal papers are several diaries which the chiefly concerned with travel, ca. 1900-1914.

The collection also contains drafts of approximately 200 essays, speeches or articles on religious, civic, moral and historical topics. Among the historical essays are several reminiscences of Kuykendall’s personal experiences in Oregon and Washington.

The papers are arranged in three series:

Series: Description	Boxes
Series 1: Personal papers: Diplomas and certificates, account books, mortgages and notes, diaries and scrapbooks of articles about G. B. Kuykendall and his immediate family, 1871-1928	1-3
Series 2: Essays, Speeches and Compositions: Drafts of compositions on religious, civic, moral and historical topics. Includes the notes and drafts for a History of the Methodiest Episcopal Church of Pomeroy, Washington	4-5
Series 3: Kuykendall Family History: Correspondence, research notes, drafts, and photographs used preparation of The History of the Kuykendall Family. Also correspondence regarding its sale and distribution.	6-20

CONTAINER LIST

Box	Description	No. of Items
1	Certificates, diplomas, medical licenses, 1872-1905	8
	Mortgages, notes, account books, ca. 1890-1925	100
	Clipping scrapbooks re: G. B. Kuykendall, family members and close associates. Many are obituaries. ca. 1885-1927	5
	Diaries and journals of eastern trips for medical training or family history research, 1903-1914	10
2	Personal correspondence, 1903-1922	500
3	Personal correspondence, 1923-1931	500
4	History of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pomeray.	1 draft
	M. E. Church history notes and correspondence, ca. 1910	250
	Photographs used for M. E. Church history.	30
	Religious essays and speeches.	60
5-5.1	Civic, scientific and moral essays and speeches.	100
	History essays, ca. 1900-1925:    The Pioneers’ Retrospect (poetry)    Death of the Wisham Chief’s daughter    Notes on Enoch’s Secrets of the Pacific    Soft Breezes of Oregon (poetry)    Some recollections of Southern Oregon experiences    Addresses to the Garfield County Pioneer Association, 1911-1920    Pioneer reminiscences of other days in Garfield County    Fort Simcoe recollections    Incidents Occurring in Medical Practice at Fort Simcoe    Reminiscences of Pioneer Medical Practice    Epidemic of Eubro-Spinal Meningitis in 1888    Pioneer Medical Experiences    Bedbug Experiences    Reminiscences of Home Life    Trip From Fort Simcoe to San Francisco    Reminiscences of Early Days at the Old Umpqua Academy    Teaching the Indian Children by Means of Charts and Pictures    Indian Customs and Legends (3 vols.)    Indian Cemetery at Cascades    Indian Subjects to write upon    Copy of Letter Written to Rev. T. F. Royal, Feb. 13, 1905, together with other reminiscences.
	Family history research, letters received, ca. 1907-1918
6	Alabama-Illinois	500
7	Indiana-North Carolina	500
8	New-York-Tennessee	500
9	Texas-Wyoming	500
	Family history research and sale, letters sent:
10	1913-1916	500
11	1916-1919	500
	Typescript transcripts of letters received re: family history, including some original letters and notes, 1907-1918
12	Alabama-Pennsylvania	500
13	Tennessee-Wyoming	400
13	Clippings re: family history	250
14-15	Notes and drafts for family history, 1910-1918	1000
15	Engravings from family history illustrations, with notes on captions.	100
	Photoprints and negatives collected for family history, ca. 1850-1914 (plus contact prints, 12-80)
16	Scenes, mostly New York and West Virginia.	100
	Eastern members of Kuykendall Family	150
17	Midwestern (including West Virginia) members of Kuykendall Family	100
	Southern members of Kuykendall Family	100
	Western members of Kuykendall Family	100
	Unidentified members of Kuykendall Family	75
	Photographs of George B. Kuykendall	25
	Photographs of Umpqua Academy, ca. 1856	8
18	Correspondence re: Kuykendalls in WWI.	200
	Mailing lists.	7
19	Testimonial letters re: family history, 1919-1920	100
	Letters received re: sale and distribution of family history, ca. 1919-1925	350
20	Genealogical charts. (oversize)	50