Person:Victor Persons (1)

Victor Smith Persons was born in 1878 in Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1899 and then a Master of Arts in 1902. Trained as a civil engineer, in 1905-1906 he worked for The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago. First he traveled to Ottoman Mesopotamia to take over leading the archaeological excavations from Edgar James Banks. However, this did not last long as he was poisoned (the poison was added to his coffee) and was seriously ill for an extended period of time which effectively ended the expedition. The institute decided to redirect all the funds to an epigraphic survey in Egypt and Nubia led by egyptologist James Henry Breasted. Along with Friedrich Koch, a photographer, Victor Persons formed a team with James Breasted and traveled up the Nile to conduct extensive work at Abu Simbel in the first season. Persons returned to Chicago after the first season then moved to California where he died in 1940.

A Headless Statue Found by Mr. Persons

Members of the Expedition at Abu Simbel. Left to right, Friedrich Koch, James Breasted, Victor Persons , February 1906

1. ↑ Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers
   43(6):400, Aug 1917.

   By American Society of Civil Engineers.
   "Elected as Associate Members ... Victor Smith Persons, San Fransisco, Cal."
   http://books.google.com/books?id=j9Y1AQAAMAAJ&dq

2. ↑ Catalogue of Ohio Wesleyan University
   56:96, 1900.

   By Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio.
   "The Degree of Master of Arts ... Victor Smith Persons, '99,"
   http://books.google.com/books?id=haM4AAAAMAAJ&pg

3. ↑ Catalogue of Ohio Wesleyan University
   56:101, 1900.

   By Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio.
   "The Degree of Bachelor of Arts ... Victor Smith Persons,"
   http://books.google.com/books?id=haM4AAAAMAAJ&pg

4. ↑ Bismya or The Lost City of Adab
   441-444, 1912.

   By Edgar James Banks, New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons.
   "It was Christmas afternoon when we reached Bagdad; Hurner was standing in his garden to welcome us; Hussein was in midstream with a kuffa to take us ashore, and Mr. Persons, the engineer who had recently arrived from Chicago, came out in another kuffa to meet us. ... Persons was a capable, companionable fellow, and together we hired a house, planning to devote our time to photography until we could return to Bismya. ... Hamdy Bey was then willing that the work should be resumed, and the property of the expedition was turned over to Mr. Persons. I carefully taught the engineer all I could about Bismya, that he might profit by my experience, and then I left Bagdad by the river boat for Busreh. ... No man, however capable or strong, if not trained for the work, and equipped with a knowledge of the languages and customs of the people, should be sent into the desert alone. Persons was an engineer, not an archaeologist or a linguist, and he was inexperienced in desert life and customs. He discovered a few objects of considerable value; among them was a small, white, stone, headless statue of an exceedingly early date. With his strong hand he was getting control of the situation when there happened an accident not uncommon in Turkey. A pretext for permanently stopping the excavations had not yet been found, but there was a way to stop them, and that, apparently, was by means of poisoned coffee. The attempt was successful. After hours of oblivion, and after the servants and the guard had despaired of his life, Persons regained consciousness, but for the moment his memory was gone; the excavations were closed and he was taken to Bagdad. Only after weeks and months of suffering did he finally recover. Three years later in a Chicago restaurant, far from the Arabs and Turks, he told me the story, and the horrors of that night at Bismya were still fresh in his mind."
   http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_title.pl?callnum=DS70.B2

5. ↑ The Oriental Exploration Fund & the First Expedition, 1903-4
   2014.

   "On October 3, Banks was granted permission to excavate at Bismaya (or Bismya) in central Mesopotamia. Work began on Christmas Day 1903 and continued through May 1904. It was resumed in September for eight days until a misunderstanding with the Ottoman officials caused them to close the expedition. Early in February, 1905, the excavations were resumed under the directorship of an architect, Victor S. Persons, who remained at the site until the end of July."
   http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/beginning#Exploration
   The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago, 1155 E 58th St., Chicago, IL 60637

6. ↑ The First Epigraphic Survey, 1905-7
   2014.

   "When it became impossible to continue excavating at Bismaya, the balance of the Oriental Exploration Fund was used to sponsor an epigraphic survey of Egypt and Nubia. In 1905, James Henry Breasted set off to record the architecture and inscriptions in southern Egypt, from Abu Simbel south to Wadi Halfa. He was accompanied on this trip by his wife Frances and eight year old son Charles, and a professional staff composed of Victor Persons, former director of the excavations at Bismaya, and a photographer."
   http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/beginning#Epigraphic
   The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago, 1155 E 58th St., Chicago, IL 60637

7. ↑ Pioneer to the Past: The Story of James Henry Breasted, Archaeologist
   1943, 2009.

   By Charles Breasted, The Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

8.   Webster, William Holcomb, and Melville Reuben Webster. History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut: With Numerous Portraits and Illustrations. (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews Printing Company, 1915)
   1148.

   Victor Smith Persons, a civil engineer, was graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University (A. B.) 1899. 1906, his address is Cairo, Egypt. He is a consulting engineer of the Chicago Egyptian Expedition.