This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Famous Writer Gave Unusual Christmas Birthday Gift
Vermont lawyer Henry Clay Ide, American commissioner to Samoa, received a remarkable Christmas gift from Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson deeded his birthday to Ide's daughter Annie Ide, making her birthday November 13 and ensuring a yearly celebration with gifts. Annie later kept the custom through marriage and transfers, while Stevenson died in 1894 leaving a lasting, unusual legacy. A separate Santa Claus editorial from the New York Sun, later a national classic, affirmed Santa’s eternal existence.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Robert Louis Stevenson
New England
Western Newspaper Union
Age Henry Clay Ide
Vermont
Green Mountain
Samoan Islands
United States
Great Britain
Germany
Tide
Samoa
Ide
Stevenson
Annie
L. Robert Louis Stevenson
Ballantrae
Vallima
Upolu
Annie H. Ide
H. C. Ide
Saint Johnsbury
Caledonia
United States of America
H.C. Ine
Annie Hi. Ide
Annie H
Louisa
Lloyd Osbourne
Harold Watts
Annie Ide
Little Annie
Shay
W. Bourke Cochran
New York
Port Washington
Long Island
Paris
Anita Leslie
Shane Leslie
Marjorie Ide Leslie
Annie Ide Cochran
Miss Leslie
Prince Edward
Duchess of Kent
England
Duchess of Gloucester
Evangeline Booth
The
Salvation Army
Helen Twelvetrees
Rebecca West
Gladys Swarthout
Robert L. Ripley
Paul Manship
Belle Baker
Jerry Mudnay
Robert Lewis Stevenson
New York City
New York Sun
the Sun
Clement C. Moore
St. Nicholas
Amelia
Santa Claus
Futhor