Not My Valentine: Sketchy Politics and Sensational Divorce – The Story of Jonathan Bourne Jr and Lillian Wyatt Bourne

By Elizabeth Fulford

We don’t know why Lillian Wyatt went to Portland, Oregon, from her birthplace in Harrisburg, about 25 miles away. Maybe she wanted to get away from the farm and have an adventure. If that’s true, Portland, in the 1890s, was a good place for it because it had a reputation as a hard-edged and gritty port town. At the turn of the 20th century, it was considered one of the most dangerous port cities in the world with lots of saloons, bordellos, gambling dens, and boarding houses filled with California Gold Rush miners.

This is where Lillian met our Wing ancestor Jonathan Bourne Jr., who had just returned from Hong Kong. When she heard his story, she may have thought, “My adventure starts here.”

Bourne was in his early thirties, outgoing and well liked, with cocky eyes and a

moustache that had to be seen to be believed. His father owned Bourne Mills, a clothing manufacturer in New Bedford, MA, and a small fleet of whaling ships. Young Jonathan, a Harvard drop out, went to sea on one of those ships. The voyage ended in a violent storm off Formosa. The ship hit some rocks, broke up and sank, but the crew survived. It was on his way home from Hong Kong, in 1885, that he discovered Portland. 

Jonathan must have liked the edgy feel of the city because he stayed and got a law degree, and, by 1885, was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives. In February 1893 he married the 26-year-old Lillian Wyatt. Their winter wedding must have been test of love because they chose Chicago as the venue. By 1906 he had become a U.S. Senator representing Oregon. He accomplished this by using a bit of bribery and misdirection and maybe a few outright lies. He had honed these skills earlier when campaigning to become the Speaker of the Oregon State House of Representatives.

During Bourne’s bid for Speaker, he discovered that one of his staunchest allies, the incumbent U.S Senator, was maneuvering against him, so he decided to do a double-cross. Bourne took himself to Salem, the state capital, and rented 19 rooms in the Eldridge Block Apartments and leased the handsome Keller House on State Street. These sites became the scene of the longest-lasting house party in the history of the state of Oregon.

“I hired the best chef in the state of Oregon,” Bourne recalled; “sent him to Salem to fix up apartments in the Eldridge Block; things to eat and drink and entertainment. I said to the chef: ‘I pay all expenses. I want to take care of all my friends in the lower House who signed pledges with me’.”

The whole undertaking cost Bourne $80,000. He kept the party rolling for 40 days, and by the time it was over, the Eldridge Block had some colorful new nicknames - “Bourne’s Harem” was one.

When the State House of Representatives tried to convene for the opening day of the session, all Bourne’s supporters were several blocks away, munching hors d'oeuvres and gulping down Scotch while enjoying the company of dancing girls and other friendly ladies. As Bourne had planned, there were not enough legislators left to form a quorum. In the end, the State Legislature closed the session entirely, and his turncoat ally lost his US Senate position.

We may wonder what Lillian thought of all this, but she probably enjoyed the fame

because she stuck with him and went to Washington when he became a Senator. They had a luxury 13-room apartment there and entertained frequently until 1912 when everything fell apart. Jonathan lost the Republican nomination and tried to run as an independent, but he lost and Lillian started divorce proceedings. 

It was front page news across the country and even made the New York Times. The below photo is from the front page of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, paper.

Lillian had learned a few negotiating skills from her husband, so she took the high road when the proceedings opened. She said that she started the divorce before the end of Jonathan’s term because she felt a sense of duty to her state of Oregon and could no longer support her husband’s policies. She then read letters in her support from his sisters and explained that her husband, in 1911, told her that she had to leave Washington because he intended to be a Senator for the rest of his life and she was holding him back.

It was at this time that he decided to divide their 13-room apartment into his-and-her sections. When she had guests for dinner, he called her names in front of them. When he was entertaining, his guests would lock the door between the sections and refuse her entrance. He threatened her until she called the police.

Lillian went on to discuss their finances, telling the court that Jonathan was in debt when they married and that she had helped him along financially. Maybe she helped fund the $80,000 house party bill or the bribes. When things got better, he divided his property with her and told her specifically not to permit anyone, including himself, to get control of her stocks and bonds. Later he tried to force her to return the securities to him. She refused and he called her a thief.  In the end, he lost his senate seat and did not contest the divorce. Lillian was awarded a substantial amount of alimony and went travelling with her (now former) sisters-in-law.

After two more marriages, Jonathan died in 1940.  Lillian resettled in southern California and lived until 1947. 

Lineage: Jonathan Bourne Jr; Jonathan Bourne II + Emily Summers Howland Bourne; John Howland; Wing Howland; Elizabeth Wing; Benjamin; Matthew; Stephen; Rev John