Post #630894 by TikiTomD on Sun, Apr 1, 2012 6:52 PM

So, what became of Fanny Stevenson after Louis’s death? This New York Times article published right after her death in Santa Barbara, California on February 18, 1914 recounts her life before and after Samoa. The irony is that she died of the same thing that killed Louis, a cerebral hemorrhage...

New York Times February 20, 1914

(photo from Our Samoan Adventure)

Belle (Isobel Strong), Fanny’s daughter, made plans to return to Samoa with her brother, Lloyd Osbourne, in order to inter Fanny’s ashes at the top of Vaea Mountain alongside her husband...

The Oxnard Daily Courier June 10, 1914 (page 2)

After Fanny’s death, Belle married Ned Field, Fanny’s personal secretary and companion, becoming Mrs. Isobel Field. She and her new husband carried out her promise to Fanny. On June 22, 1915, Fanny Stevenson joined her late husband, Robert Louis Stevenson, at the top of Vaea Mountain...

Poverty Bay Herald July 22, 1915

(photo from Some Recollections of Early Samoa by HJ Moors)

Aolele is Fanny’s Samoan name, meaning “flying cloud.”

-Tom