William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers, 1789-2000 (majority within 1789-1899)

Summary

Creator:

Bosson, William, 1806-1887, Newnan, Henry Loring, Jr., 1925-2008, and Bosson, Robert Newland, 1890-1964

Abstract:

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers pertain to Revolutionary War veteran and Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati, Ohio, merchant William Bosson (1753-1823 or 1824); his son William Bosson (1806-1887) and daughter-in-law Julia Burnett; his son Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864); and other family members. The collection includes original manuscripts, ephemeral items, publications, transcriptions, and copies of letters, documents, notes, and other items, largely dated between 1789 and 1899. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

Extent:

2.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Noa Kasman

Background

Scope and Content:

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers pertain to Revolutionary War veteran and merchant William Bosson (1753-1823 or 1824); his son William Bosson (1806-1887) and daughter-in-law Julia Burnett; his son Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864); and other family members. The collection includes original manuscripts, ephemeral items, publications, transcriptions, and copies of letters, documents, notes, and other items, largely dated between 1789 and 1899.

The William Bosson Scrapbook includes approximately 140 manuscript and printed items largely dating from 1789 to 1899, including biographical sketches, reminiscences, reflections, correspondences, courtship and family letters, documents, an autobiography, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, engravings, railroad passes, and convention tickets. Of particular note are 10 documents signed by W. G. Brownlow and D. W. Senter; five letters sent by William Bosson to W. G. Brownlow; five biographical sketches and reminiscences related to the reception of the Declaration of Independence in New York, Thomas Hickey's betrayal of General Howe, General Joseph Warren, General Knox, and General George Henry Thomas; nine letters George H. Thomas sent to William Bosson between 1864 and 1868; four letters between Edward Everett and William and Charles Bosson; three letters of introduction for Charles Bosson exchanged between W. Heath and Elbridge Gerry, Elbridge Gerry and Henry Clay, and Josiah Quincy and John Rowan in 1813; one letter from Amos Kendall to Charles Bosson; one letter from Samuel Gilman to Charles Bosson; and one manuscript addressed to the Tennessee Teacher's State Association by W. G. Brownlow.

The scrapbook contains content pertinent to many subjects, including the Revolutionary War; the War of 1812; the Civil War; the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee; Tennessee reconstruction; and Tennessee mining, cotton manufacture, railroads, government, and education (particularly the development of Common Schools) following the Civil War.

The Genealogical Papers series includes Colonial Dames applications, a Middlesex County genealogy, two transcriptions of William Bosson's autobiography for his sons, two transcribed copies of Thomas Mayo Bosson's "Genealogy of the Bosson Family," transcribed copies and photocopies of genealogical records, and genealogical notes and materials related to the Ushers, Hills, Denisons, Terrells, Powers, Newnans, and Bossons. The genealogical papers also contain two books of compiled information on the Bosson, Usher, and Hill families from items contained in the William Bosson Scrapbook and Genealogical Papers: a book Henry Loring Newnan refers to as the "Bosson-Usher-Hill book" in his letters, and two copies of "William Bosson 1630-1887 Seven Generations."

The genealogical papers include notable content on the Civil War, the First World War (in Richard Bosson's account of service in the Rainbow Division), and World War II (William Loring Newnan and Henry Loring Newnan Jr.).

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers is a heterogeneous collection, spanning many years and pertaining to many individuals and events. Please see the box and folder listing below for details about individual items in the collection.

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

Biographical / Historical:

The following brief information about the Bosson family is drawn largely from the genealogical materials and records within the collection:

William Bosson (1753-1823 or 1824) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He served as a minuteman in the Battles of Lexington and of Long Island, and as an officer in Crane's artillery regiment. Bosson received a captain's commission on October 28, 1790, and worked as a merchant in Roxbury before moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the wake of the War of 1812. Bosson died in Cincinnati.

William Bosson (1806-1887) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Prior to the Civil War, William Bosson worked as a clerk in Kentucky and Cincinnati, then partnered with his brothers Thomas Mayo Bosson (1785-1850) and Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864) in cotton manufacture in Cincinnati and Tennessee. He worked at the Falls of Caney Fork from 1841 to 1862.

Before 1861, William Bosson also held positions as Treasurer and President of the South Western Rail Road Company. During the Civil War, he became a Colonel and, according to his son, Thomas Mayo Bosson (1856-), William worked for the Federal army drawing maps of Tennessee that were used during the battles of Stone River and Chattanooga. William Bosson’s autobiography suggests interactions with Confederate troops, Union troops, and officers around Nashville, Caney Fork, McMinnville, and Murfreesboro between March 1862-January 1863. William Bosson also details his experience of the aftermath of the Battle of Stone River.

William Bosson served as Senator of the 9th District of Tennessee and a member of the House of Representatives. He was elected as head of the Committee on Education, Ways and Means, and Freedmen, and worked to improve Common School Law and funding in Tennessee. In 1866, Governor Brownlow tasked him with identifying a suitable bank in New York for paying the state's interests on debts. The scrapbook includes documents in which Brownlow authorizes Bosson to represent him in state affairs during Brownlow's tenure as Governor of Tennessee. Bosson also served as a delegate at conventions related to the reconstruction of Tennessee in 1865, 1866, 1868, and 1869.

William Bosson was commissioned as a Director of the Nashville and Chattanooga and Nashville and Northwestern Rail Road Company, a position he filled from October 1865 to March 1872. He served on multiple educational boards, including the board of Trustees for East Tennessee University. He also served as the vice president of Central Tennessee College and president of the Executive Committee Teachers' State Association. In 1872 he moved to Greencastle, Indiana and served in the Greencastle's Common Council. In a note added to Robert Newland Bosson’s (1890-1964) transcription of William Bosson’s autobiography, Robert Bosson suggests that William moved to educate his sons at Ashbury University.

William Bosson met his wife Julia Burnett (1831-1898) at a Sunday School in Sparta, Tennessee, in 1852. They married in 1855 in Russell, Ohio, and had two children, Thomas Mayo Bosson (1856- ) and William Bosson (1857-1934). The scrapbook contains multiple letters relating to Bosson and Burnett's courtship in 1852 and correspondence between Bosson, Burnett, and their sons in the early to mid-1870s. William Bosson prepared an autobiography for his sons about his participation in the Civil War and loyalty to the Union. Julia Burnett Bosson died of an epileptic stroke in 1898.

Charles T. Bosson (1791-1864) was a lawyer and Harvard University graduate of the class of 1811. He lived and worked with his brother Tomas Mayo in Boone County, Kentucky, and in Tennessee. Some documents related to his student life are included in the scrapbook, as well as letters of introduction exchanged between W. Heath and Elbridge Gerry, Elbridge Gerry and Henry Clay, and Josiah Quincy and John Rowan pertinent to establishing Charles T. Bosson as a lawyer in the "west." He died on November 25, 1864, at his father's home in Murfreesboro, having fled his own farm, which was then occupied by General Bedford Forrest.

In 1885, William Bosson (1857-1934), son of William Bosson (1806-1887), married Margaret Hill (1866-1936), daughter of Roswell Hill (1843-1925). They had seven children, including Margaret Bosson (1886-1955), who married Henry Loring Newnan (1887-1955). Margaret and Henry had four children, including Henry Loring Newnan, Jr. (1925-2008).

Acquisition Information:

2000. M-4112, M-4113 .

Custodial History:

(Scrapbook): Bosson, William, 1806-1887; Bosson, William, 1857-1934; Bosson, Robert Newland, 1890-1964; Bosson, Robert William, 1924-2014; Taylor, Taylor, Julia Hathaway, 1924-; Bosson, Robert William, 1924-2014; William L. Clements Library.

Arrangement:

The William Bosson family scrapbook and genealogical papers are organized into three series:

• Series I: Scrapbook
• Series II: Transcriptions, Copies, and Genealogical Materials
• Series III: Printed Items

Background information on the organization of the scrapbook:

William Bosson (1806-1887) may have collected a portion of the materials in a scrapbook or journal form, but his grandson Robert Newland Bosson (1890-1964) was responsible for most of the scrapbook's organization. Around 1950 or 1959, Robert Newland Bosson took the materials his grandfather collected, adhered them to large sheets of paper, transcribed many of the manuscripts, and added notes of his own.

Correspondence indicates that multiple family members attempted to organize or reorganize the disbound scrapbook following Robert Newland Bosson's death, but did not settle on a final arrangement. Robert William Bosson attempted to chronologically arrange the scrapbook, dating the materials on the upper corners. When the Clements Library received the scrapbook, processing staff attempted to recreate the last known complete scrapbook organization—that of Robert Newland Bosson.

The arrangement of the scrapbook as it was received by the William L. Clements Library is indicated by numbers on the right-hand side of every scrapbook page. The Clements Library's reorganization (as close as possible to Robert Newland Bosson's original arrangement) is indicated by the numbers on the left-hand side of every scrapbook page (each number beginning with the year of reorganization, 2016).

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

Alternate Locations

Six Infant School Society Depository prints are housed in the Graphics Division.

Other Finding Aids:

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index: Bosson Family Scrapbook Contributor Index.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Education and state.
Educational law and legislation.
Education--Tennessee--Finance--History--19th century.
Free schools--United States--History--19th century.
Public schools--Tennessee--History--19th century.
Railroads--Tennessee.
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--Tennessee.
World War, 1914-1918.
World War, 1939-1945.
Albumen prints.
Education--1860-1870.
Engraving (printing process)

Formats:

Autobiographies (documents)
Biographical sketches.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Documents.
Genealogies (histories)
Letters (correspondence)
Manuscripts (documents)
Memoirs.
Scrapbooks.

Names:

United States. Army--Division, 42nd.
Pennsylvania State Equal Rights’ League.
Bosson family.
Denison family.
Hill family.
Newnan family.
Usher family.
Bliss, T. E. (Thomas Eliakim), 1824-1909.
Bosson, Charles P.
Bosson, Charles Thompson, 1791-1864.
Bosson, Robert Newland, 1890-1964.
Bosson, Thomas Mayo.
Bosson, William 1753-1823 or 1824.
Bosson, William, 1806-1887.
Bosson, William, 1857-1934.
Braden, John.
Brownlow, W. G. (William Gannaway), 1805-1877.
Burnett, Juliette (Julia), 1831-1898.
Burnett, M.
Calhoun, John C. (John Caldwell), 1782-1850.
Cole, Edmund William, 1827-1899.
Duncan, Blanton.
Eaton, John, 1829-1906.
Everett, Edward, 1794-1865.
Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814.
Gilman, Samuel, 1791-1858.
Heath, William, 1737-1814.
Humes, Thomas William, 1815-1892.
Hyberger, Frank.
James, E. A.
Johnson, Ben.
Johnson, Richard W., 1827-1897.
Kendall, Amos, 1789-1869.
Lindsley, John Berrin, 1822-1897.
Maynard, Edward.
Maynard, Horace, 1814-1882.
Mayo, Thomas.
McAlister & Wheeless.
McGuffey, Charles D.
Mercer, S. C. (Samuel C.)
Morgan, John Hunt, 1825-1864.
Noble, James F.
Noll, Charles T.
Porter, James D. (James Davis), 1828-1912.
Powers, Hiram, 1805-1873.
Quincy, Josiah, 1772-1864.
Robert, Christopher R. (Christopher Rhinelander), 1802-1878.
Senter, DeWitt Clinton, 1830-1898.
Sparks, Jared, 1791-1864.
Stall, Arnold J.
Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
Thorn, R. S.
Thrall, H. G.
Trimble, John, 1812-1884.

Places:

Boston (Mass.)
Cambridge (Mass.)
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Greencastle (Ind.)
Murfreesboro (Tenn.)
Nashville (Tenn.)
Ohio.
Tennessee--Politics and government.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--War of 1812.