The Robertson family letters (93 items) are made up of personal correspondence related to the family of Daniel M. Robertson of Bow, New Hampshire. Items dated between 1827 and 1882 mainly consist of letters to and between Daniel M. Robertson and his daughters Mary, Martha, Eliza, and Harriet. Martha M. Robertson also wrote letters to her parents while living in Boston in the 1840s. The Robertson sisters corresponded with their cousins, including members of the Fletcher, Truell, and Fowle families, who reported on their lives in towns such as Nashua, New Hampshire; Boston, Massachusetts; and Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Correspondents discussed topics such as sickness and health, deaths, religion, employment, and local travel. Harriet Saltmarsh remarked on political tensions before Lincoln's inauguration (February 26, 1861). Other writers mentioned aspects of the Civil War; one hoped that "the soldier and the slave may both be free" (July 26, 1862), and an injured soldier expressed his desire to lengthen his furlough (December 24, 1863-January 1, 1864). The collection also contains letters that Mary Ann Robertson and her husband, Isaac W. Newell, wrote to Robertson's sisters about their lives in Stockholm, New York.
From February 5, 1890-November 24, 1892, Frank N. Saltmarsh wrote 14 letters to his parents, Gilman and Harriet Robertson Saltmarsh, and to his sister, Harriet Saltmarsh ("Hattie"), about his experiences as a student at Dartmouth College. He commented on his coursework and social activities, as well as local news. He also wrote one letter to his aunt, M[artha] M. Robertson. The latest items are letters Frank N. Saltmarsh received, often regarding his finances or business affairs; in one letter, J. W. Watson described a Dartmouth class reunion (July 12, 1894).
Daniel M. and Harriet Robertson lived in Bow, New Hampshire, in the mid-19th century. Their children included Mary Ann, Martha M., Eliza H., and Harriet Emeline (b. 1831). Mary Ann Robertson married Isaac W. Newell and lived in Stockholm, New York. Martha M. Robertson and Eliza H. Robertson later lived in Concord, New Hampshire. Harriet Emeline Robertson married Gilman Saltmarsh (b. 1828) on July 1, 1853, and they had four children: Martha Alice, George Abbott, Harriet Amanda, and Frank Nehemiah. Frank Nehemiah Saltmarsh graduated from Dartmouth College in 1893, and attended the Andover Theological Seminary. After graduating from the seminary in 1897, he preached in congregational churches in Vermont and New Hampshire.
