This collection contains 4 incoming letters that Dr. Henry A. True received from acquaintances, as well as 1 letter that True wrote to a friend. The letters primarily concern travel, politics, and the writers' lives.
Columbus Tyler wrote to Henry True from Charlestown, Massachusetts, on August 13, 1834, and December 12, 1835. His first letter concerns the upheaval surrounding the Ursuline Convent Riots and the preparation of local military forces, who stood ready to intervene. In a letter from Louisville, Kentucky, S. B. Owen reminisced about life in New England, remarked on some differences between the two locales, and recounted his journey from New York (February 6, 1835). Writing from New York City, a third acquaintance expressed his frustration at True's lack of correspondence and discussed political issues such as the Whig Party's nomination of William Henry Harrison for president over Henry Clay (March 13, 1840). The final item is a letter that Henry A. True wrote to John D. Philips about his distaste for steamboat travel and his recent difficulties with taxation (May 20, 1836).
Henry Ayer True was born in Union, Maine, in August 1812. After receiving a bachelor's degree (1832) and medical degree (1835) from Bowdoin College, he worked at McLean Asylum for the Insane in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and at an asylum in New York City. He moved to Marion, Ohio, before 1840, and had a successful private practice there for the rest of his life. He married Elizabeth Pierce Reed in November 1841, and they had one son, also named Henry. Henry Ayer True died on December 14, 1876.
