Janvier

(1912), ed. by Burton E. Stevenson; A Diet, of Am.
Authors (ed. 1905), ed. by Oscar Fay Adams; private
information.] S G B

JANVIER, THOMAS ALLIBONE (July
16, i849-June 18, 1913), journalist, author, was
born in Philadelphia, Pa., the second child of
Francis de Haes and Emma (Newbold) Jan-
vier, and was descended through Thomas Jan-
vier, a refugee in 1683, from an old Huguenot
family seated in western France. His father
published books of poetry and verse and his
mother was the author of a number of stories
for children. His sister, Margaret Thomson
Janvier [#.^.], under the name Margaret Vande-
grift, wrote stories and poems for children. In
Philadelphia Janvier received a common-school
education and entered business, which he soon
abandoned for journalism. From 1871 to 1880
he did editorial work for the Philadelphia Times,
the Evening Bulletin, and the Press, and mean-
while, in 1878, he married Catharine Ann
Drinker [see Janvier, Catharine Ann] of Phil-
adelphia, painter and author. For three years,
1881-84, he traveled as a journalist in Colorado,
New Mexico, and Mexico, accumulating mate-
rial for short stories and sketches, subsequently
printed in Harper's, and for at least three books:
The Mexican Guide (1886), a standard guide-
book to Mexico which reached a fifth edition in
1893; The Aztec Treasure House (1890), an
adventure story for juveniles; and Stones of
Old New Spain (1891).

On returning to the East Janvier settled in
New York where he lived until his death, except
for several and at times prolonged visits to
France, England, and again to Mexico. He
was known among the writers and artists of the
city, but in general he was singularly unattached
to newer New York. His interests turned
rather to the quaint and the old, and to the
exotic Botiemianism of Washington Square.
The life of the art colony just north of the
Square yielded stories written under the name
Ivory Black and collected as Color Studies
(1885), his first book. The simple, old-fashioned
French quarter to the south he pictured in
stories published currently in Harper's and col-
lected posthumously in At the Casa Napoleon
(1914) which includes a photograph of the au-
thor and an appreciative memoir. Concerning
old Greenwich Village itself west of the Square
he wrote popular historical sketches later incor-
porated in In Old New York (1894). These to-
gether with two other volumes, The Dutch
Founding of New York (1903), and Henry
Hudson (1909), both popularly historical, place
him among the chroniclers of New York.

Jaquess

In the spring of 1893 Janvier and his wife
left America for what became a visit of seven
years to England and France. At Saint-Remy
in Provence they entertained William Sharp,
became intimate with the poet Mistral and with
Felix Gras, and at Avignon they read with en-
thusiasm the manuscript of Gras's romance and
conceived the idea of translating his works. The
natives of the Midi fascinated Janvier who
seems to have had in himself a strong dash of
French sentiment which responded naturally to
the warm generosity and expansiveness of Prov-
ence. His Embassy to Provence (1893), The
Christmas Kalends of Provence (1902), a col-
orful description of the Christmas festivals, and
From the South of France (1912), were sym-
pathetic studies of the region and its people and
in recognition of his interest in Provence he was
awarded honorary membership in the Society of
the Felibrige. His other literary works included
The Uncle of an Angel and Other Stories
(1891); In the Sargasso Sea (1898), a novel;
Legends of the City of Mexico (1910), and nu-
merous shorter articles. Janvier died in New
York, childless, and was buried at Moorestown,
N. J. He appears to have been a man of great
personal charm, picturesque and humorous in
his speech, and "preeminently civilized." His
writing confirms the record of his contempora-
ries. It is throughout graceful and polished,
only rarely too apparently so, and his fiction,
except for the unique volume of tragedies, In
Great Waters (1901), is light and amusing. He
ranks among the local colorists who flourished
in America at the turn of the century, by no
means eminent but certainly not inconspicuous.

[See J. H. Harper, The House of Harper (1912);
Outlook, June 28, 1913; N. Y. Times, N. Y. Tribune,
June 19, 1913-] A.L.B.

JAQUESS, JAMES FRAZIER (Nov. 18,
i8i9-June 17,1898), Methodist clergyman, edu-
cator, soldier, was born near Evansville, Ind.
He was one of the numerous children of a fer-
vent and wealthy Methodist, Jonathan Garrett-
son Jaquess, and Mary Wood (Smith) Jaquess,
who named their offspring after Methodist bish-
ops. His grandfather, Jonathan, had moved to
Indiana from Kentucky in 1815. James attend-
ed Indiana Asbury University, from which he
received the degree of A.B. in 1845. Before his
graduation he married Mary Sciple, who died
only two years later. After studying law, and
being admitted to the bar in 1846, he deserted
that profession and in 1847 became an ordained
Methodist preacher. About this time he mar-
ried his second wife, Sarah E. Steel He never
had an extensive circuit rider's career, for in

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