We’ve had a lot of fun celebrating The Columbian’s 125th anniversary recently, including one unexpected delight.
That’s the connection between our newspaper and the hit musical “The King and I.”
The link is William Harrison Hornibrook.
According to a timeline we published as part of our anniversary edition, Hornibrook bought The Columbian in 1919 and then sold it in 1921 to the Campbell family, its current owners.
Some of us here have known three generations of Campbells. But who was William Harrison Hornibrook? A quick Internet search revealed something interesting: Before he bought The Columbian, Hornibrook was the American ambassador to Siam.
The place doesn’t even exist any more, at least not under that name. The nation in Southeast Asia is now known as Thailand.
And even back when Siam was really a thing, it had maybe two reference points in terms of American culture: Siamese twins and Siamese cats.
There also was a book, “Anna and the King of Siam,” based on the life of widow Anna Leonowens, who was hired by King Mongkut in 1862 to give his children a Western-based education. The book inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Anyway, we’re figuring that Siam was not a plum assignment for members of the U.S. diplomatic corps a century ago. And Hornibrook didn’t stay there long. Because of ill health, he spent less than two years in Siam.
While Hornibrook was in Siam, its ruler was King Vajuravudh, whose father, King Chulalongkorn, was one of the students tutored by Anna Leonowen.
Our former owner eventually returned to his diplomatic career. In the 1930s, he served as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in both Afghanistan and Iran, then ended his career with a similar posting in Costa Rica.
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
