Collections

The Carrie M. Stewart and Arthur K. Kepner collection consists of the couple's love letters to one another, written in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of the letters pertain to their lives in northeastern Ohio.

The Carrie M. Stewart and Arthur K. Kepner collection (1 linear foot) consists of the couple's love letters, written in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of their letters pertain to their lives in northeastern Ohio. The collection also includes a poem and short story, a photograph, photographic negatives, newspaper clippings, and ephemera.

The Correspondence series contains approximately 250 dated and 150 undated letters. Among the first 10 items are 4 personal letters to James R. Brown, including 3 from his sister, Martha M. Ferguson of Warren, Ohio (August 18, 1870-September 19, 1877). Carrie M. Stewart received 6 letters from acquaintances between April 23, 1893, and April 10, 1898. The bulk of the series is made up of love letters between Carrie M. Stewart (later Kepner) and Arthur King Kepner, whom she addressed as "King." From 1898-1908, Stewart and Kepner wrote to each other about their families and social lives in eastern Ohio. Stewart lived in Hartford, Ohio, and often traveled to Sharon, Pennsylvania; Kepner attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and later worked in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Weldon, Ohio. Most of the letters pre-date their 1906 marriage, and many concern their relationship and their separation. Other correspondence includes several letters to Carrie Stewart Kepner from A. J. McFarland ("Jerry" or "Archie"), an acquaintance in Dillonvale, Ohio. Some of the undated letters are composed on partially printed (blank) receipts from D. C. Stewart's lumber company in Hartford, Ohio. An undated letter from Thomas B. Moreland, a funeral director in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, provides a reference for Kepner from his time employed as an assistant undertaker.

The Writings series (2 items) contains a poem and a short story entitled "My Little People of the Snow."

The Photographic Negatives series includes 2 undated photographic negatives of people outside of a house. An additional 18 negatives of outdoor scenes and various persons are housed with A. J. McFarland's letter of February 27, 1902.

The Newspaper Clippings series consists of 17 clippings. Several of the clippings pertain to the marriage of Carrie Stewart and Arthur King Kepner and other weddings; others are news stories, including a story about the death of an undertaker in Kinsman, Pennsylvania.

The Ephemera series contains 6 items, including a prescription, an invitation, a visiting card, and an advertisement for a sauce pan with a note from Mrs. King Kepner ordering the sauce pan from Aluminum Cooking Utensil Co.

The Turner-Whiton papers contain correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

This collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

The first three subseries in the Correspondence series are grouped by correspondents: Elizabeth Whiton letters to T. Larkin Turner (122 items), Letters to Elizabeth Whiton (121 items), and T. Larkin Turner letters to Elizabeth Whiton (12 items). These subseries are comprised of personal letters written in the mid-19th century, primarily concerning the writers' social lives in Hingham, Charlestown, and Boston, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Whiton's correspondents included her siblings and female friends.

The Letters from H. subseries contains 43 letters that a man named Henry and his wife Marie wrote to his parents while traveling in Italy, France, England, and Germany in 1884 and 1885. Henry wrote the majority of the letters, commented on his life in Venice, Paris, and London, and mentioned a recent cholera epidemic. The subseries also includes a ticket and printed advertisement in French.

The Chronological Correspondence subseries comprises the bulk of the collection. The first 2 items are letters from Reverend Sherman Johnson of Southborough, Massachusetts, to a female acquaintance. Most items from 1833-1880 are personal letters to T. Larkin Turner and Elizabeth D. Whiton (later Elizabeth Turner), including their letters to one another during their courtship (ca. 1837-1843) and later letters from a branch of the Turner family in Lexington, Massachusetts. The courtship-era letters primarily concern Turner and Whiton's daily lives in Boston and Hingham, Massachusetts, respectively. Elizabeth Whiton also received letters from male and female friends in New England and New York, particularly in Charlestown and Boston, Massachusetts.

T. Larkin Turner received letters from several correspondents, including George R. Turner, who wrote a series of letters to Turner about his work for a Massachusetts railroad in 1847 and 1848. He commented on his in-state travels, his co-workers, and the railroad's progress. George W. Prescott of the United States Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida, wrote personal letters to Turner from 1877-1883. Undated items include additional correspondence between Turner and Whiton and genealogical notes about the Turner family.

Advertisements include printed booklets, fliers, and other advertisements for T. Larkin Turner's medical cures, particularly the "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and "Lorraine's Vegetable Cathartic Pills." Manuscript drafts of advertisements are also present. Other clippings are articles on medical conditions such as neuralgia, on Turner's pills, and on other medical topics.

A group of papers related to Turner's Nostrums contains manuscript drafted advertisements and notes about T. Larkin Turner's "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and other products. Two lengthy manuscript drafts concern the neuralgia pill and a cure for menstrual discomfort. Notes concern various medical conditions and the importance of sleep, among other topics.

The Receipts and Documents series primarily contains receipts to Captain Larkin Turner and T. Larkin Turner, largely for everyday personal expenses. T. Larkin Turner also purchased a newspaper subscription and hired a horse and buggy on at least one occasion. Indentures and similar legal documents primarily pertain to land in Massachusetts.

The Muster Roll/Town Roster series contains two items: a booklet with names of Boston residents and other annotations, and a booklet containing copied information from a 1757 muster roll.

The Genealogy series has notes and fragments about the Whiton, Turner, and Whitney families, as well as poetry, essays, correspondence, and receipts of payment for copied documents.

T. Larkin Turner composed a 94-page Memorative of Larkin Turner, his father, on the backs of assorted documents, scraps, and ephemera items. The bound volume, the first in a series, covers Larkin's life until about 1812.

Additional Newspaper Clippings pertain to deaths, marriages, and the Fusilier Veteran Association.

The Miscellaneous series contains ephemera, sketches, a lock of Turner's hair, a Tufts library card for "Russell H. Whiting," and other items.