A fact from Francis Pettygrove appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 10 April 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that in choosing between the names Portland and Boston, Francis Pettygrove(pictured) and Asa Lovejoy, the founders of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon, settled the question by a coin toss?
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Point of chronology. If Pettygrove died in 1887 and the Oregon Historical Society was founded in 1898, how could Pettygrove have left the Portland Penny to the OHS? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dewisant (talk • contribs) 19:53, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I was unaware of the discrepancy. I'm not sure I can find an answer, and it might take me a while, but I'll try. Finetooth (talk) 19:56, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The source for the OHS claim is on p. 487 of the Lansing book I cited. The supporting information appears in Note 9 to Chapter 1. It says in part, "Pettygrove bequeathed this copper penny to the OHS by his will". Lansing cites the Oregon Historical Quarterly (OHQ), volume 31, page 255, as her support for the claim. Since her book qualifies as a reliable source, I went no further, and I have not looked at the OHQ article. I don't know off the top of my head whether the OHS existed before it was formally incorporated in 1898, but that is one possibility. Finetooth (talk) 20:11, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Vol. 31 was apparently 1930 (see here) so, unfortunately, it's likely still in copyright, and not available on Google Books or the like. However Jewel Lansing is still around, and if I were to guess based on my limited contact with her, I bet she'd enjoy a request for clarification on an interesting point like this. -Pete (talk) 20:30, 10 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
