Looking for a birth announcement, San Francisco, 1877

[Erato]

I hadn't seen that clip from Los Angeles Daily Herald but I had seen the one about the train trip from Fresno to points East [which, oddly, does not mention Arthur although I know that he was traveling with his parents at the time].  I don't know why it says they were arriving from "the Colonies."  I guess that means Hawaii.  In fact, the Logans were arriving from New Zealand but probably came via Hawaii. 

In late 1879, the Logans had moved from Pohnpei down to the Mortlock Islands to take up missionary work there.  By the end of 1880, Robert was seriously ill and he and his family were evacuated from the Mortlocks to New Zealand in July 1881.  They stayed there until Robert was sufficiently recovered to travel to the U.S.  -  they left Auckland at the end of January 1882.  They stayed in the U.S. until mid-1884, sailing back to Micronesia from Hawaii in July.  Beulah went back to the islands with her parents but Arthur stayed in the U.S. for about a year [attending school in Ohio??] and then he returned to Micronesia in 1885.

It seems clear that Beulah was with the family before 1882 and probably since 1877 so the only real question is, was she adopted?  Probably not, but it is curious that my grandmother would have gotten that wrong.  She was pretty careful.

I can recall my grandmother mentioning Beulah in conversation but at the time I had no idea who she was and was uninterested in her or any other ancestor.  If I had shown any interest as a child, this wouldn't be a mystery now.

[Lisa in California]

I don’t think this has been mentioned…what if she knew of an impending birth in California (a friend’s, relative’s, church member’s, etc. pregnancy), and sailed to San Francisco months before the birth. Various reasons for sailing/bringing back the baby:
To help/comfort the pregnant lady (which possibly resulted in Mary having to bring the baby home with her);
Mary knew that she would be bringing back the baby and wanted it to appear that it was her actual baby;
(And already mentioned) Mary was in fact ill and met the infant’s family during her San Francisco stay.

Having just glanced at details yesterday, am I correct in believing that Mary married in 1870? If so, could she have miscarried (more than once) prior to Beulah’s birth and either believed she might not carry a baby full term or was told it would be safer for her to have the baby in California? Could she have lived with family members in California who could have waited on her hand and foot thus hoping to insure her baby’s birth?

Already semi-mentioned but, one of the California state hospitals (Agnew hospital?, which is just south of San Francisco) offered care for contagious diseases but I don’t remember the time period nor the illness. Could/would Mary have travelled to California in hope of getting better? Perhaps she met up with Beulah’s mother while recuperating at a state hospital.

[Erato]

"she knew of an impending birth in California"

It's possible.  Robert and Mary were both from Ohio and they had no near relatives in California at that time but they could have had friends or friends of friends.

"could she have miscarried (more than once) prior to Beulah’s birth"

Impossible to know but certainly not out of the question.  The Logans were married in Ohio on 4 May 1870.  Arthur was born in Oberlin, Ohio on 5 November 1871.   They first went out as missionaries in 1874, sailing from San Francisco to Hawaii and eventually arriving in Pohnpei in July of that year.  They were in Pohnpei until sometime in 1879, after which they went to the Mortlocks.  Following Robert's illness and lengthy recovery in New Zealand and the U.S., they went to the Chuuk archipelago in 1884.

Because they were missionaries, there really is quite a lot of information on these people in the newspapers but it's hard to separate fact from myth and from out and out falsehood.  There are many articles, for example, which make Beulah sound like a truly horrible person who spoke of the natives as ignorant, filthy, immoral savages.  In other accounts she is saintly and heroic.  Who knows.