1896 Off Stage Births

DATE:  July 28, 1895                                                                                                                    EVENT:  Tarzan and the Porter party set sail from Greystoke cabin. The events of The Return Of Tarzan end.                                                                                                                            SOURCE:  The sailing date is not provided by ERB, but is my working date. In ERB-APA #73 I show how I came to this conclusion.                                               

John Buscima

DATE:  April 28, 1896                                                                                                                  EVENT:  John Clayton lll/Jack/Korak is born offstage.                                                                  SOURCE:  Tarzan and Jane get married on July 27, 1895. ERB does not provide this data, but it is my working date based on several factors. 

1. The first and foremost is to allow enough time for all of the events of The Son Of Tarzan to occur in a time frame exactly as ERB described them. For this to happen all dates need to occur as rapidly as possible.
2. ERB never provides or hints at Jack Clayton/Korak's birth date. His story occurrences do, however. 
3. Any number of dates will theoretically fit ERB's description. The main thing is not to choose a date that differs from the author's presented information.
4. To form a working date I theorized Jane becomes pregnant early after marriage.
5. Nine months later on May 28, 1896, she delivered a healthy son which they named John Clayton lll in family tradition. The family called him Jack.
6. Despite this conservative approach, no one particular date could be deduced. In other words, Jack/Korak could have been born on several days in April or May and still be compliant with ERB's provided info. So, how does a researcher produce a birth date that is acceptable to readers with such a vague description?
7. I decided to follow in the footsteps of the author himself. In my articles Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Narrator, Beyond The Narrator, Comparing Narrator Notes, and Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master Trickster  I showed it was ERB's constant habit to insert true life family names, dates, and places into his fiction stories. Following his example when I come across a cornerstone date that is not provided, I refer to the Burroughs family genealogy.
8. A researcher can find the Burroughs Genealogy Notes in an insert in Memoirs Of A War Bride, written by ERB's mother Mary Evaline Burroughs. The family history was handwritten in Chicago on June 23, 1914. 
9. Checking to see if any noteworthy occasions occurred in April or May, we discover George Rice married Elizabeth Blake on April 16,1829. Until a more researched date for Jack Clayton/Korak birthdate is revealed I will use April 16, 1896, as a working date.

Tarzan, Jane & Jack

DATE:  August 16, 1896

EVENT:  Jeanne Jacot/Meriem born offstage.                                                                              SOURCE:  The seven-year-old Meriem was kidnapped on or around August 18, 1903. Although ERB doesn't provide her birth date you can subtract seven from 1903 and you come up on or around August 18, 1896. Most importantly, it is important to use the earliest date possible because of the time needed for all of The Son Of Tarzan events to occur as described by ERB.  

Chat: This is a significant undated event and to form a chronology, we must produce an acceptable calendar working date to continue. Since we have no ERB-provided date to work with, we must provide one that fans will accept. 

    I formed a working chronology based as closely as humanly possible on the descriptions provided by ERB in the book series. My research concluded that Jeanne Jacot/Meriem's birth date occurred on or around August 18, 1896. Despite this conservative approach, no one particular date could be deduced. In other words, Jeanne Jacot/Meriem could have been born on multiple days in August and still be compliant with ERB's provided info. So, how does a researcher provide a birth date that is acceptable to readers with such a vague description?

    I decided to follow in the footsteps of the author himself. In my articles Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Narrator, Beyond The Narrator, Comparing Narrator Notes, and Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master Trickster  I showed it was ERB's constant habit to insert true life family names, dates, and places into his fiction stories. Following his example when I come across a cornerstone date that is not provided, I refer to the Burroughs family genealogy.

    A researcher can find the Burroughs Genealogy Notes in an insert in Memoirs Of A War Bride, written by ERB's mother Mary Evaline Burroughs. The family history was handwritten in Chicago on June 23, 1914. Checking to see if any noteworthy occasions occurred in the middle of August we discover Mary Coleman, the daughter of John McCulloch Coleman was born on August 16, 1816. Until a more researched date for Meriem's birthdate is revealed I will use August 16, 1896, as a working date.

J. Allen St. John

DATE:  October 29, 1896, through  December 29, 1896  

EVENT:  Tarzan and family leave Uziri and arrive in England and the events of The Beasts Of Tarzan begin. 

SOURCE:  This is a working date only and is not provided by ERB. The date was based around the Uziri rainy season and provided in ERB-APA #77.

CHAT:  Sailing ships in the late 19th century were primarily made of wood and powered by wind. Their speed varied depending on wind conditions, hull design, and cargo load.

    The route from Luanda to Dover follows the west coast of Africa, then across the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, and finally up the English Channel to Dover. The prevailing winds of the Atlantic Ocean during this time are generally westerly, which would favor the eastward journey.

    Sailing ships in the 19th century typically averaged around 8-10 knots (nautical miles per hour} in favorable conditions. Assuming an average speed of 10 knots, the journey from Luanda to Dover would take approximately 45-50 days. However this is just a rough estimate and the actual time could be longer or shorter depending on wind conditions, currents, and other factors. The ship may have made stopovers in other ports along the way, which would also affect the total journey time.

    Given the uncertainties involved, it is difficult to provide a precise answer on the exact arrival date in Dover. However, based on the information available, we can estimate that the journey would have taken approximately 45-50 days, with a possible range of 40-50 days. The arrival date could be earlier or later depending on various factors, including weather conditions, and stopovers. To be conservative, this chronology will use two months (60 days) as a working date, allowing adjustability.

Greystokes Arrive In England

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There, the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.

James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and Swordsman On Unium, published on July 15, 2024.

1895 July The Return Of Tarzan

Date:  toward the evening of July 23, 1895

Event:  Tarzan, Jane, and the Waziri arrive at William Cecil Clayton's rude shelter in time to watch him die.

Source:  "Toward evening he arose again for a brief moment." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. 

Chat: Just before Clayton dies, he utters a statement that hints the incidents in Northern Wisconsin occurred a little cover over a year ago. "I only wish to do now the thing I should have done over a year." ERB- The Return Of Tarzan. In the timeline, it is a year and a day which agrees with William Cecil Clayton's dying statement. 

Joe Kubert

Date:  the next morning July 24,1895

Event: Tarzan and company set out for the Greystoke cabin taking William Cecil Clayton's body to be buried beside John and Alice.                    

Source: "It had been the ape man's suggestion that Clayton is buried beside the former Lord Greystike near the edge of the jungle against the cabin that the  older man had built." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. 

Joe Kubert

Date:  July 24, 1895

Event:  Tarzan and company run into Jane's father, Professor Archimedes Q. P Porter.

Source:  "They had proceeded some three miles of the five that had separated them from Tarzan's own beach when the Waziri who were ahead stopped suddenly," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

The Return Of Tarzan

Date:  July 24, 1895

Event: Tarzan and company reach the cabin to discover Lieutenant Paul D'Arnot and the others. Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rokoff) and Lord Tennington were out hunting.

Source: "A short time later the strange party came to the clearing in which stood the ape-man's cabin."  ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.                          

Chat: This is the second time French sailors have been on Portuguese Angolan soil to rescue the Porters. "D'Arnot's ship had been cruising along the coast, on patrol duty, when at the lieutenant's suggestion they had anchored off the little landlocked harbor to have another look at the cabin and the jungle in which many of the officers and men had taken part in exciting adventures two years before." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. This passage clearly informs us The Return Of Tarzan covers a span of two years.

Russ Manning

Date:  July 24, 1895

Event:  Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rokoff) and Lord Tennington return and Nickolas Roloff is arrested by Captain Dufranne. Tarzan recaptures Lieutenant Gernois' secret papers.

Source:  "A half hour later Rockoff and Tennington emerged from the jungle." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

Date:  sunset July 24, 1895

Event:  William Cecil Clayton is buried.

Source:  "At sunset, they buried William Cecil Clayton beside the jungle graves of his aunt, the former Lord and Lady Greystoke." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Chat:  Notice that Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, specifically points out that William Cecil Clayton is buried on Alice's graveside and not John's. Ever wonder if that is a hint Tarzan is buried beside his father in the far distant future?

Joe Kubert

Date:  July 26, 1895

Event:  Tarzan returned with the second load of gold.

Source:  "The next day he returned to camp with the balance of his ingots," ERB-The Return Of  Tarzan.

Russ Manning

Date:  July 27, 1895

Event:  Tarzan and Jane, Lord Tennington, and Hazel Strong were married in a double wedding by Jane's father Professor Archimedes Q. Porter who was an ordained Presbyterian minister.

Source:  "So the entire party assembled within the little cabin and above the door to witness the second ceremony that Professor Porter was to solemnize within three days." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

Date:  July 28, 1895

Event:  The French steam cruiser sailed for civilization.

Source:  "The next day they sailed." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There, the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.

James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and Swordsman On Unium, published on July 15, 2024.

1895 June The Return Of Tarzan

Date: June 1, 1895, through June 7, 1895

Event: The Oparians capture and lead Jane to Opar.

Source: "For many days they traveled through the dense forest." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "In a day and a night he covered the same distance that the fifty frightful men had taken the better part of a week to traverse." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan

Joe Kubert

Date: morning June 1, 1895 
Event: Monsuire Thuran's (Nickolas Rokoff) fever becomes worse. William Cecil Clayton goes hunting. Jane is captured by the men of Opar.
Source: "The next day Thuran was worse." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "The Englishman had extracted the heavy spear from the body of the lion, so that when he went into the forest to hunt that morning he had a feeling of much greater security than at any time since they had been cast upon the savage shore." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Frank Frazetta

Date: afternoon June 1, 1895
Event: The tribe of Kerchak comes to the amphitheater and discovers Tarzan.
Source: "On the afternoon of the third day he returned early." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: Again, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, informs us Tarzan has been gone from the jungle for two years. "There were no greetings such as would have taken place among men after a separation of two years." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

The Return Of Tarzan

Date: June 1, 1895

Event: William Cecil Clayton returns from hunting and finds Jane gone. The Englishman searched for the missing girl until dark.
Source: "until dark the Englishman searched the nearby jungle for a trace of the missing one for a sign of the trail of her abductor." ERB: The Return Of Tarzan.

Joe Kubert

Date: June 1, 1895
Event: William Cecil Clayton is treed by a lion and forced to spend the night alone in the jungle.
Source: This put an end to his search for the balance of the afternoon, as the lion paced back and forth beneath him until dark. ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Joe Kubert

Date: morning June 2, 1895
Event: William Cecil Clayton returns to camp.
Source: "The next morning he returned to the beach, relinquishing the last hope of succoring Jane Porter." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

Date: June 2, 1895, through June 9, 1895
Event: William Cecil Clayton hunted and tended Monsieur Thran (Nickolas Rockoff)
Source: "During the week that followed, Monsieur Thuran rapidly regained his strength, lying in the shelter while Clayton hunted food for both." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

Date: June 7, 1895
Event: The Oparians and Jane arrive at Opar.
Source: "Late afternoon she saw the ruined walls of a mighty city looming before them." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Joe Jusko

Date: June 7, 1895, through June 14, 1895
Event: Jane is held captive in Opar.
Source: "For a week she saw only some of the women whose duty it was to bring her food and water." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Christopher Schenck

Date: June 9, 1895, through June 14, 1895
Event: William Cecil Clayton was tossed with delirium but Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rokoff)  would not care for him.
Source: "For days he lay tossing in delirium and suffering, but not once did the Russian come near him." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: "For days," is not enough information to provide an exact date for this event. Therefore, any non-Edgar Rice Burroughs provided date is merely speculation. My theory is since Rokoff's fever lasted a week that is approximately how long Clayton's would last. Since the description says "For days" that means less than a week. I used five days in the belief the described events are occurring rapidly back-to-back.

Thomas Yeates

Date: June 15, 1895
Event: A returning Mangani tells Tarzan about Jane's capture.
Source: "Half a moon since." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: The moon's cycle is twenty-nine and one-half days. Approximately two weeks.

John Buscima

Date: June 15, 1895
Event: Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rockoff) abandons William Cecil Clayton. The Russian finds the Greystoke cabin.
Source: "That same day he came to a little cabin by the beach." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: "That same day," is not enough information to provide an exact date for this event. Therefore, any non-Edgar Rice Burroughs provided date is merely speculation. My theory is that these undatable events are happening in back-to-back time sequences with little time passage occurring between each. 

Joe Kubert

Date: June 15, 1895, through June 16, 1895
Event: Day and night Tarzan raced to Opar
Source: "Day and night Tarzan of the Apes raced through the primeval forest toward the ruined city in which he was positive the woman he loved lay either a prisoner or dead." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: Edgar Rice Burroughs does not offer an exact date for this event. Anyone that knows Tarzan, however, knows he would have left immediately in search of Jane no matter what time of the day or night it was. In fact, the ape-man "traveling day and night" show his urgency.

N.C. Wyeth

Date: nearly noon June 16, 1895

Event: Tarzan reaches Opar.
Source: "In a day and a night he covered the same distance that the fifty frightful men had taken the better part of a week to traverse, for Tarzan of the Apes traveled along the middle terrace high above the tangled obstacles that impede progress upon the ground." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "It was nearly noon when he reached the great boulder at the top of which terminated the secret passage to the pits beneath the city." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

The Return Of Tarzan

Date: June 16, 1895, through June 19, 1895
Event: Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rokoff) remains at the Greystoke cabin for a few days.
Source: But he did not know, and so he remained a few days to enjoy the security and comparative comforts of the cabin." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: These dates are not provided by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author. Many dates actually work and all are acceptable as long as they do not disagree with Burroughs' description. As (working dates only} I used three days for Rokoff's stay at the Greystoke cabin.

The Return Of Tarzan

Date: late in the afternoon of June 16, 1895
Event: Tarzan rescues Jane and she regains consciousness.
Source: "Late in the afternoon Jane Porter regained consciousness." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.  "It cannot be that such happiness can be true after all the hideous things that I have passed through these awful months since the Lady Alice went down." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: Here Jane tells us months (which is two or more) have passed since the Lady Alice sunk. This 1872 timeline shows a passage of four months since that event, so it agrees with Jane's provided information.

Thomas Yeates

Date: the night of June 16, 1895
Event: Tarzan and Jane sleep in the jungle.
Source: "That night Tarzan built a snug little bower high among the swaying branches of a giant tree, and there the tired girl slept, while in a crotch beneath her the ape-man curled, ready, even in sleep, to protect her." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Zedenek Burian

 

Date: June 17, 1895

Event: Tarzan and Jane set out for the coast.
Source: "It took them many days to make the long journey to the coast." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: Other passages indicate a better part of a week. We know Tarzan and Jane did not linger on their journey. "Had it not been for their anxiety to reach and secure Clayton they would have drawn out the sweet pleasure of that wonderful journey indefinitely." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Thomas Yeates

Date: June 19, 1895
Event: Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rokoff) leaves the Greystoke cabin and travels north. Lord Tennington realizes he loves Hazel Strong. Monsieur Thuran (Nickolas Rockoff) finds the Porter party.
Source: "Then he took his northward journey once more." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "and to think all this time we have been separated by but a few miles - scarcely a day's march." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

Chat: Although this passage again gives nothing for establishing an exact date, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, finally offers a dating clue. "He started lamely a couple of times, cleared his throat, became red in the face, and finally ended by remarking that he hoped the cabins would be finished before the rainy season commenced." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.

     This passage clearly informs us that the rainy season has not yet set in, but is quickly approaching.  The rainy season in Portuguese Angola is September through April. From this info, we can conclude the described undatable events occurred sometime between June 12, 1895, through early August 1895.

Frank Frazetta

Date: June 22, 1895
Event: Tarzan and Jane run into the Waziri.
Source: "On the last day before they reached the coast Tarzan caught the scent of men ahead of them - the scent of black men." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "For weeks they had been searching for him, they told him." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. 

Thomas Yeates

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There, the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.

James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and Swordsman On Unium, published on July 15, 2024.