Francis Marion Bates.

by Terry Foenander.

When Francis Marion Bates died on the Flemington Road, in Melbourne, on June 27, 1879, he and his wife, Eliza, were already quite well known theatre actors in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.   Their eldest daughter, Blanche was also to become a well known actor, and was managed by her mother, after the death of her father.   Eliza and her two daughters did not remain very long in Australia, after the death of Francis, but returned to the United States, and both Eliza and Blanche continued to perform on the stage throughout the United States, in subsequent years.

With what little fame they already had, at the time of his death, it should have been abundantly clear to any researcher that there was obviously a wealth of information that could be found on Francis Marion Bates, even prior to his death.   That anyone could ever make such a massive amount of mistakes, in relation to the life of Bates, as did James Mason Gray, a member of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, is way beyond belief, but then this should be no surprise to anyone who peruses the biographies included  at Mr. Gray’s web site, which are replete with errors, assumptions and many facts which have been altered to suit Mr. Gray’s version of events.   Even a perusal of the obituary of Bates, included in the Melbourne newspaper, the Argus, would have yielded a treasure trove of data, but it was obvious that this line of research was never ever taken.   Nor was Bates’ death certificate obtained by Mr. Gray, as he would have found out the correct names of Bates’ parents, instead of making uneducated guesses, which turned out to be wrong, anyway.   Yet this person, James Mason Gray, has the very nerve to write an article, titled Responsibilities of a Researcher, which he has included at his web site.   I will now include a proper and documented biography of the actor, Francis Marion Bates, with data obtained from a number of primary and secondary sources, as shown at the conclusion of this article.

A small segment of the obituary of Francis Marion Bates, from the Australasian of July 19, 1879, showing some details of his Civil War service, marriage and other relevant data.

A segment of the death certificate of Francis Marion Bates, actor, who died in Melbourne on the 27th of June, 1879. Note especially his stated age, and the names of his parents, as well as the correct occupation of his father. Obtaining proper documentation is all part of any essential research, and no proper or true researcher indulges in uneducated guesses. Yet there are those who do make wild guesses and assumptions, and are far too lazy to obtain the proper documentation that will show the true facts

Francis Marion Bates was born about 1835 or 1836, in Boston, though one source shows his birthplace as New Orleans, and another indicates he was “a Marylander.”   His age, at the time of his death, is also shown as 40 years of age, but there is no doubt that his actual year of birth was almost certainly about 1835, especially since the source of this information was from his own wife.   He was the son of John Bates, a coach proprietor, and his wife Hannah, both parents being named especially in his death certificate.   Prior to taking to the stage, about the age of eighteen, Frank had taken employment with the Revenue Department of the Public Service, but a stage manager, Mr. W.H. Fleming, had noticed his acting qualities, and gave the young man a chance to begin his stage career from the bottom rung.   Young Bates continued his slow rise on stage, mainly in the west, but, a couple of years prior to the breaking out of the Civil War, he began performing in Philadelphia.   The commencement of the war found him in the city of Norfolk, Virginia, where he is indicated to have enlisted in the Confederate Army, and evidence exists to show that he was almost certainly a member of company E, 3^rd Georgia Infantry, and most definitely not a member of any Alabama unit during the war.   As a matter of fact, his obituary clearly states that he participated in the Seven Days campaign, and the history of the 3^rd Georgia Infantry shows that this unit was involved in that campaign and other battles around Richmond, whereas the Alabama units, to which he has been incorrectly aligned with, were never in Virginia during the war.   Francis M. Bates, who served in company E of the 3^rd Georgia was discharged on August 15, 1862, and subsequently returned to the stage, with the Richmond Daily Dispatch showing him performing on stage as early as October 13, 1862, when he performed as “Lord Fitz Arnold” in the play “Metamora, the Last of the Wampanoag.”    Various newspapers of the Civil War years, from cities such as Richmond, Virginia and Augusta, Georgia, show him, as well as Eliza Wren, performing mainly in the eastern states during the war years.   In November, 1863, Francis Marion Bates was united in marriage with Virginia born Eliza Wren, at Wilmington, North Carolina, and the duo continued their acting careers right through the end of the war.   Eliza herself was a member of a well known family of actors and theatrical performers, with other members of the Wren family often named in newspaper columns showing performances of the day.

Part of the article on the Bates' from the Town and Country Journal of May 30, 1874, just a few months after the family's arrival in Melbourne. Some details of Frank's Civil War career do not correspond to the details in his obituary, but it is fairly clear that he was in Virginia, at the commencement of the war, and most certainly not Alabama.

After the war the couple performed through various states, including Texas and New York, and later in California, where Francis took lease of the Metropolitan Theatre in San Francisco.   Their first child, Blanche, who was later to become an actress herself, was born some years prior to their sailing to Australia in mid-1873.   The family arrived in Melbourne, from San Francisco, aboard the 394 ton barque, the Cesarewitch, commanded by Alexander McFarlane, on July 22, 1873.   Accompanying them was a sister of Mrs Bates, Alice Wren, also an actress, who was also to perform on the stage in Australia.

Details of the arrival, in Melbourne, on July 22, 1873, of the barque Cesarewitch, from the pages of the Melbourne Argus of Wednesday, July 23, 1873, showing the names of the Bates family, as well as Mrs. Bates's sister, listed as Miss Wren..

The Bates’ performed throughout Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, as well as making appearances in New Zealand.   They even commissioned a tale of the American Civil War, titled Check and Counter Check, perhaps as a reminder of Frank’s brief service during the war.   It was during their residency in this region that their second daughter, Eleanor, was born, about 1876.   There is an indication, in Frank’s death certificate, that they had had a third child, who was deceased at the time of his death, though no details are currently known of this third child.   Most of their residency was in Sydney, where they were shown, in 1879, at the time of his death later in Melbourne, as having a residence at 553 Bourke Street, in Sydney.

Sometime in late June of 1879, Frank left Sydney to perform on the stage in Melbourne.   However, on the morning of June 27^th, his body was found in a gully on Flemington Road, Melbourne, close to the junction with Grattan Street.   He had been robbed of the jewellery which he was fond of wearing, but an inquest in early July concluded that his death had come about through a possible fall from an embankment, as there were no signs of a struggle, or of his having been attacked.   This despite the fact that several witnesses had indicated that, the evening prior to his body being found, he had been followed by a stranger, and was advised of this fact, but failed to heed the warnings.   A man had been arrested on suspicion, but was charged with vagrancy and nothing else.   The final decision, in the inquest, gave the cause of death as disease of the heart and lungs, accelerated probably by a fall.   He was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on July 2, 1879, and his funeral attended by a large throng.

Article from the Melbourne Argus of Friday, July 18, 1879, giving part of the testimony of various witnesses, and others, relating to the death of Francis Marion Bates. This one includes the testimony given to the inquest, by Mrs. Bates.

Photo of the gravestone of Francis Marion Bates. The inscription, almost illegible towards the end reads: "IN MEMORY OF MY BELOVED HUSBAND FRANCIS MARION BATES WHO DIED 27TH JUNE 1879 AGED 43 YEARS. THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST AND LONGEST, HOLD HIM IN THEIR MEMORY THE KINDEST AND THE CLOST".

The web site, created by James Mason Gray, giving a biography of the actor, Francis Marion Bates, includes a number of major errors, especially crediting the actor to the wrong unit, during the Civil War.   It is fairly clear that Mr. Gray did not bother with any thorough or proper research relating to Francis Marion Bates, and there are indications that Gray fudged some of the facts in order to give a false impression of this military service.   The incorrect data includes the following:

1.  Mr. Gray incorrectly shows the birth year of Francis Marion Bates as 1839, despite the fact that his death certificate shows his age at death as 44.   There are other accurate sources that show the age, but these were obviously ignored.

2.Mr. Gray tries to imply that a physician named Francis A. Bates, shown in the 1870 United States census, and aged 48, was the father of the actor, Francis Marion Bates.   Yet even a child would be able to calculate that this Francis A. Bates, if he was the father of Francis Marion Bates, would have had to have been aged about 13 at the time he was supposed to have fathered the actor.   As a matter of fact, the death certificate of Francis Marion Bates clearly shows the actor’s parents as John and Hannah Bates, and that John Bates had been a coach proprietor, not a physician.

3.Gray rambles on about Francis Marion Bates, the actor, having served in the 5^th Battalion, Hilliard’s Legion, Alabama Cavalry, and gives an unnecessary history of the unit and other irrelevant data.   Yet, proper research would have shown that our actor never enlisted in Alabama, nor was he anywhere near that state, at the beginning of the war.   Two lengthy biographies of the actor, one in a Melbourne newspaper, dated in 1874, and an obituary in an Australian journal, in 1879, both clearly indicate that Francis M. Bates was in Virginia at the start of the war, and that he enlisted in that state.   Hilliard’s Legion was never in Virginia, and its service was in the western states, through the war.

One of the service cards for the service of the Francis M. Bates who served in Hilliard's (Alabama) Legion. Note especially the detail that this Francis Bates was still in the unit as of January, 1863, months after the actor, Francis Marion Bates was shown, in numerous Richmond newspapers, as already acting on the stage in Richmond and Wilmington. Hilliard's Legion was never in Virginia during the first two or three years of the war, remaining in the vicinity of Alabama, and the western states. Simple facts that are checked can make a world of difference when coming to conclusions, yet these facts were never checked, due to laziness.

4.Francis Marion Bates, the actor, was already back on stage, in his acting career, at Richmond, Virginia, as early as October, 1862, and this is clearly shown in a theatrical advertisement in the Richmond Daily Dispatch of Monday, October 13, 1862.   Yet the Francis M. Bates who served in Hilliard’s Legion, is shown, in his military service documents, as still being in the unit, serving in the west.   My common sense tells me that it was totally impossible for one person to be in two places, hundreds of miles apart, at the same time.   Additional advertisements in the Richmond newspapers, for subsequent months continue to show the actor, Francis Marion Bates, on stage in Richmond, and later, in 1863, at Wilmington, where he was married in November of that year.

5.Mr. Gray indicates that the Francis M. Bates who served in Hilliard’s Legion was promoted sergeant “eventually,” but the company muster rolls of Francis M. Bates, who was in Hilliard’s Legion, only show his presence in that unit, until January 1, 1863, and his rank, up to that final entry is still shown as private.   He was obviously then transferred to the 10^th Confederate Cavalry, which, if so, proves that he had continued in service after January, 1863.   Yet the actor, Francis Marion Bates, was already acting in Richmond, Virginia, over a lengthy period, after October, 1862.  

Sources:

Article titled, “Mr. And Mrs. Bates,” in the Town and Country Journal, May 30, 1874, page 865.

Article titled, “The Biographer: Frank Bates,” in the Australasian newspaper, July 19, 1879, page 71.

Compiled Military Service Records of Francis M. Bates, company E, 3^rd Regiment Georgia Volunteers, and Francis M. Bates, company A, 5^th Battalion Hilliard’s Legion, Alabama Cavalry provided through the kind courtesy of Mr. Jim Martin, administrator of the Civil War Message Boards online.

Death certificate of Francis Marion Bates, actor, died 27^th June, 1879.

Passenger list of the American barque, Cesarewitch, on arrival in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, July 22, 1873; copy on microfilm at the Public Record Office of Victoria, North Melbourne.

Research by Mr. Barry Crompton, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Research by Mrs. Virginia Crocker, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Research by Mr. Ron Hohenhaus of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Various articles relating to Francis Marion Bates, his wife, Eliza, and his daughter Blanche, from the Argus (Melbourne) newspaper, issues of Wednesday, July 23, 1873,Tuesday, August 5, 1873, Saturday, August 30, 1873, Tuesday, May 21, 1878, Wednesday, May 22, 1878, Thursday, July 3, 1879 and Friday, July 18, 1879; articles from the San Francisco Call (California) dated June 16, 1901 and September 5, 1909, and an article relating to the death of Eliza Lucy Bates, from the New York Times, dated June 2, 1908.   See also, various articles, relating to the acting careers of Francis Marion Bates, and Eliza Wren (later to become Mrs. Francis M. Bates) in Civil War issues of the Richmond Daily Dispatch, dated Monday, October 13, 1862, Monday, April 13, 1863, Monday, May 11, 1863, Thursday, November 12, 1863, Saturday, November 14, 1863; the Richmond Whig, dated September 5, 1864; the Augusta, Georgia Daily Constitutionalist, dated May 22, 1864, June 22, 1864, July 10, 1864, July 30, 1864 and August 9, 1864.

Page Created, June, 2008 (Updated August, 2008).