Collections

The collection consists of correspondence related to the Griffin family of New York City and includes 58 letters that George Griffin and his family exchanged between 1833 and 1854 with author Lydia H. Sigourney of Hartford, Connecticut. Additional material includes letters written by Sigourney about her work and correspondence among members of the Griffin family that provides commentary on family life, two extended trips to Europe, Protestant theology, and higher education. The final series in the collection includes manuscript copies of several of Sigourney's poems, including one on the death of American poet John Trumbull and another on the "Death of a Missionary to Liberia."

The collection consists of correspondence related to the Griffin family of New York City and includes 58 letters that George Griffin and his family exchanged between 1833 and 1854 with author Lydia H. Sigourney of Hartford, Connecticut, as well as several other pieces of correspondence written by Sigourney and others. The second series of the collection includes several folders of correspondence among members of the Griffin family, especially letters of fatherly advice that George Griffin wrote to his sons Edmund Dorr Griffin (1804-1830) and George Griffin, Jr. (1811-1880). In addition to narratives of family life, the bulk of these letters involve accounts of two extended trips to Europe as well as discussions of Protestant theology and higher education. The final series in the collection is a 3-page manuscript copy of Sigourney's poem on the death, in 1831, of American poet John Trumbull.

Sigourney Correspondence, 1833-1854: This subseries consists primarily of Lydia H. Sigourney's correspondence with her close friend and intermediary, George Griffin, and his family in New York City. Thee letters from Lydia Sigourney, dated in 1857 and 1858, may or may not have been to Douglas Smith. In them, she offered a brief remark on her own aging and disclaimed the notion of striving to appear young; content on shipping books to the U.S. Consul; and an interest in agricultural sciences.

Much of Sigourney's correspondence with George Griffin directly involves her work as an author and her position as a woman in that profession. She frequently sent him copies of her written pieces, some of which had already been published in periodicals, asking for advice about the content of the work and about how she might pursue publication. In the course of doing so, she remarked upon her writing and revision process. These letters also specifically address her negotiations, often through Griffin's work as intermediary, with the Key & Biddle, Harpers, Leavitt, Lord & Co., D. Appleton, and Van Nostrand publishing firms, as well as the publication of her Letters to Young Ladies (1833 and 1841), Poems (1834), Sketches (1834), Girl's Reading-book (1838), and Letters to Mothers (1838). Additionally, a small number of letters from 1840 deal with Sigourney's trip to Europe.

Griffin, in turn, kept Sigourney apprised of developments with publishing firms as well as on the sale and review of her work. He candidly offered his response to works she had sent him, as well as general advice on the direction of her literary career. As a writer himself, he too sought feedback for his work, which took the form of theological essays. A manuscript copy of one of the reviews of his book, The Gospel its Own Advocate , appears in this series. Both correspondents also reflected on the challenges facing the publishing industry during the financial crisis of the late 1830s (especially the Panic of 1837) and shared their opinions on the state of American literary culture.

This series also includes letters that Sigourney exchanged with George Griffin's wife, Lydia Butler Griffin, and daughter Caroline. These pieces tended to relate family news and household matters but also included reflections on reading and Sigourney's involvement in various charitable societies. She briefly remarked on her relationship with her African American servant, Ann Prince. In addition, Sigourney conveyed in her letters to George Griffin that she valued the responses of his wife and daughters to her work. Finally, the series contains 2 letters composed by Charles Sigourney, Lydia Sigourney's husband, and ten letters written by Lydia Sigourney relating to her work, public appreciation of it, school celebrations, and social matters.

Griffin Family Correspondence, 1807-1885: The Griffin Family correspondence contains over 150 letters, dated between 1807 and 1885, that relate to George Griffin (1778-1860) of New York City and his family.

Most of the letters from the 1820s deal with Edmund Dorr Griffin (1804-1830), the second son of George and Lydia Butler Griffin. A handful of these items chart his religious convictions and pathway to becoming an Episcopal minister. The bulk of these letters, however, are ones that Edmund exchanged with his parents, siblings, and friends during the extended trip he took to Europe between October 1828 and April 1830. George Griffin's letters to Edmund during this trip are full of advice and directives about where to travel, what to observe, and practicalities about money. He also kept his son informed about matters that were unfolding among the Episcopal churches in New York and at Columbia College. Although George Griffin was the primary writer of these letters, many of them include notes from other family members as well, with accounts of family life, including the courtship and marriage of Edmund's older brother Francis to Mary Sands.

Edmund's letters home narrate his journey and impressions of Europe in extensive detail. George Griffin actively compiled his son's epistles to have them published in periodicals, and upon Edmund's death in September 1830, these travel accounts (not all of which are included in the collection) made up the bulk of the "Remains" compiled by Francis Griffin and published in his brother's memory in 1831. Letters pertaining to the preparation and reception of this document, as well as a 12-page account of Edmund's final days, can be found in Series I and II of the collection.

Another group of letters from 1830 chart George Griffin, Jr.'s (1811-1880) sudden religious awakening and decision to pursue ministerial training under the care of his uncle, Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837), a Congregational minister and the president of Williams College. Later letters in the collection reveal that George Griffin, Jr., eventually became a farmer in Catskill, New York, and deal with his efforts to sell his hay. He would also travel to Europe, in 1850, with his ailing sister Caroline (1820-1861). While they were away, their father conveyed advice regularly and procured letters of introduction, some of which remain in the collection.

Additional materials include subjects related to male and female friendship; family financial matter; the births, deaths, or marriages of family members; education; Protestant theology; health and medicine; early telegraph communication; and family genealogy. The handful of items that date to the 1870s and 1880s include a printed piece called "Dear Erskie!" which contains a series of riddles, and a fifteen-page booklet that includes two poems titled "Picnic" and "Archery."

Lydia Sigourney Poems, Notes, and Photograph

This series consists of six items: a 3-page manuscript copy of Sigourney's poem on the death of American poet John Trumbull in 1831; a manuscript copy of "Death of a Missionary to Liberia" written for theColonization Herald; her poem "Tomb of Josephine"; Sigourney's manuscript copy of an 1849 printed notice regarding Whisper to a Bride that she sent to an autograph collector; a "List of L. H. Sigourney's published poetical works" (ca. 1857? in her hand); and a carte-de-visite seated portrait of Lydia H. Sigourney. The photograph was published by E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., New York, from a photographic negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery. It is signed by Lydia H. Sigourney to her friend Mrs. E. Douglas Smith.

This collection consists of incoming letters sent to Mary Averell Knap of Brownsville and Ogdensburg, New York, between 1850 and 1862, and letters sent to her granddaughter, Lydia Averell Hasbrouck, of Ogdensburg, New York, in 1885 and 1886 by her cousin, Thomas Whitney Brown. The correspondence concerns daily life, occasional references to the Civil War, literature, and Brown's attempts to gain admission to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

The Knap-Whitney family letters consist of approximately 88 letters. The correspondence addressed to Mary Averell Knap includes 4 outgoing and approximately 75 incoming personal letters dated between 1848 and 1864. Her parents, friends, cousins, and other family members commented on their daily lives, with occasional references to the Civil War. Mary Knap's father, Thomas Knap, informed his daughter about his life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1850, and occasionally discussed the sermons he heard. After 1850, Mary's correspondents primarily included her cousins and friends. In the mid-1850s, Maria M. Campbell (later Smith), a cousin, wrote about her education and social life at St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New Jersey, and in October 1858 discussed her relocation to Fort Mason, Texas (resultant from her husband's affiliation with the United States Army's Second Cavalry). Susie P. Willene wrote of her life in "Frankford," and in one letter she shared her distaste for recent political developments in South Carolina, despite her southern heritage (June 22, 1855). Other friends reported social news, such as marriages and, in one instance, the author's secret engagement. Knap also received letters from several men, including one written in German.

Though Mary Knap continued to receive letters throughout the Civil War, her correspondents primarily focused on personal matters, such as her cousin Will's efforts to establish a forge at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. Others described a visit to an army encampment in Washington, D.C., and mentioned a soldier's aid society.

Mary A. Knap also wrote 4 letters to George Whitney in 1857, about her life in Brownsville and his unreciprocated romantic advances.

The correspondence sent from Thomas Brown Whitney of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to his cousin, Lydia Averell Hasbrouck of Ogdensburg, New York, includes 8 letters dated from 1885 and 1886 and 1 letter dated in 1940. He shared family news and stories, and commented on his daily life. An avid reader, he frequently discussed literature and literary figures, such as Lords Tennyson and Byron, and occasionally copied poetry into his letters. Whitney enjoyed fencing, and drew several figures fighting in his letter of December 26, 1885. After September 1885, the letters concentrate on his desire to attend College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and he wrote of his studies, college entrance exams, and classes in Latin. On April 6, 1886, he voiced his concerns about "hazing and general fighting" at Princeton. His letter dated March 23, 1940, reflects on a bout of "grippe" and attitudes towards the Second World War, including German anti-war sentiment.

Marion Shipley compiled this volume while a pre-adolescent and teenager in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She made collages and colored pencil drawings of domestic scenes, exteriors of residences and gardens, animals, and more. The volume also includes diary entries relating to her social life, humor, and experiences at a school at or near the Naval Academy in Portsmouth. She wrote about getting in trouble in class, passing notes, and flirtatious or romantic relationships. Shipley also pasted and laid in correspondence sent to her by young men courting her, and she added brief comments in the volume speaking to her current romantic interests. Several newspaper clippings also feature male actors and royalty, providing additional information about teenage romantic exploration.

Marion Shipley compiled this volume while a pre-adolescent and teenager in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She made collages and colored pencil drawings of domestic scenes, exteriors of residences and gardens, animals, and more. The volume also includes diary entries relating to her social life, humor, and experiences at a school at or near the Naval Academy in Portsmouth. She wrote about getting in trouble in class, passing notes, and flirtatious or romantic relationships. Shipley also pasted and laid in correspondence sent to her by young men courting her, and she added brief comments in the volume speaking to her current romantic interests. Several newspaper clippings also feature male actors and royalty, providing additional information about teenage romantic exploration.

The first page is inscribed "Marion Shipley's Picture Book. Naval Academy, November 1898," and is followed by a section of drawings and collaged scenes. The collages include colored pencil drawings of the exterior of residences and gardens; a river scene with boats, bridges, and monuments; a church; a tent (an exhibition tent?); a circus; a kitchen; and living rooms. These have printed clippings of animals, furniture, boats, women and children, crowds, circus entertainers, cars and wagons, and vegetation pasted in. One loose page tipped into the volume is titled "THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR!!!" and features clippings of young children crying, swearing, and being spanked, with added pencil annotations. Other pages are filled with colored pencil drawings of birds and animals, a fishing boat, a horse-drawn vehicle, buildings, a decorated tree, and faces.

Shipley also documented the social life of adolescent boys and girls in her circle, in particular their play at school and their emerging romantic interests. Page 35 is dated June 1, 1907, and is labelled "PRIVET. NO TRESPASSING. ALL RIGHTS RESERED [sic]. For Spelling & Writing." It is followed by a diary entry dated June 7, 1907, describing Shipley's day at school, where she commented on having a substitute teacher, getting in trouble, disliking spelling, and drawing pictures of each other's backs and passing it in the class. The passed note is laid into the volume, featuring six pencil drawings of the back of girls' heads to show their hairstyles, each identified by the girl's names and age. One is of Shipley. She used rebus drawings and numerical substitutes to replace foul language (e.g. "7734" for "Hell"). On page 39, Shipley recorded her favorite expression of 1907, "23 SKIDOO & STUNG," and noted students in her school passing slips pairing boys and girls who apparently liked each other. She claimed to not "like any of the boys in the whole school" of about 400 students. This is followed by two columns of names, one for boys and the other for girls.

Shipley included a number of love letters sent to her. On pages 37 and 38 she affixed five letters (by pasting in the envelopes) from Ralph Dana, sent during his stay at the Hawthorne Inn of Gloucester, Massachusetts, from July to September, 1906. He wrote of local entertainments, engagements with friends, his romantic interest in her, guarded concerns about her activities and who she was spending time with, and his suspicion that she did not reciprocate his feelings. Shipley wrote beneath the letters: "These are some letters I got from who was my best fellow. He is not now. My letter were just as bad to his as his were to me. Now I just love H. S. C. (His picture is in the back of my watch) & have every since June of 1907 & this is Jan. 1908." Shipley also laid in nine pieces of correspondence from a suitor named John, mostly dated from early February 1908. They profess his love for her, ask if she loves him, and request kisses. One is on a piece of paper cut in the shape of a heart, and three others include hearts and arrows painted in gold metallic paint. One letter signed "Fred" is addressed to "K," expressing excitement about her upcoming visit and requesting a photo of a beautiful girl. A doily and a page from a calendar with a quote from the Merchant of Venice is also tipped into the volume.

The final diary entry is written on page 41, where Shipley notes attending Hamlet, which she mentioned liking almost as much as Peter Pan. Elsewhere in the volume, Shipley tipped in newspaper clippings of the actor E. H. Sothern and Dom Manuel II, King of Portugal.