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Collection

Bartlett family papers, 1839-1931

1.5 linear feet

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including his granddaughter, author Lina Bartlett Ditson.

The Bartlett family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, and a scrapbook related to Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett of the United States Navy and to his descendants, including author Lina Bartlett Ditson, his granddaughter.

The Correspondence series contains letters written to various members of the Bartlett family. The earliest items concern Washington A. Bartlett's naval career, including several letters between Bartlett and his wife Ruth. In a letter from May-June 1845, Washington Bartlett discussed political and military conflicts between the United States and Mexico. Much of his other correspondence is contained in a letter book, which covers the years 1835-1862.

Other items in the series are incoming personal and business letters to George L. Ditson, Bartlett's son-in-law. Some of these pertain to his appointment as United States Consul in Nuevitas, Cuba, a few of which are in Spanish. Later material includes a letter from Ronald Lodge to his mother, Oralie Ditson Lodge (Washington A. Bartlett's granddaughter) about his successful fitness examination for the United States Navy, enclosing a photograph of Lodge in uniform (April 17, 1917), and a letter on stationery from the White Star Line ocean liner Olympic (November 14, 1928).

The Documents and Financial Papers relate to several generations of the Bartlett family. Of note are a certificate about Washington A. Bartlett's qualification as a United States Navy midshipmen, signed by Martin Van Buren (November 20, 1839), and an authorized copy of Washington A. Bartlett and Ruth Budd Bloom's marriage certificate (June 17, 1861). The series also contains receipts and accounts.

The Writings series primarily contains typed copies of poems and stories composed by Lina Bartlett Ditson. Included are 8 poems, 1 group of poetry "Fragments," and 7 short stories. Two items, which may not be by Ditson, are in French, including an acrostic poem based on Ruth Budd Bartlett's name.

The collection's 8 Calling Cards and Invitations include manuscript and printed visiting cards for "Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett" and an invitation to the home of William H. and Frances Seward.

A single Illustration, dated August 1833, depicts the brig Mermaid at sea. A map of a portion of Albany, New York, shows the location of B. Lodge & Company.

The Photographs series has mounted and loose portraits, several cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards, a glass-plate positive of a young girl, and numerous snapshots. Early portraits depict Oralie Ditson Lodge and Lina Bartlett Ditson (occasionally in costume), and 130 20th-century snapshots were taken during a family vacation Eagle Lake in New York.

The Lena Bartlett Ditson Scrapbook contains newspaper articles, programs, and correspondence about Lina Bartlett Ditson, assembled by her sister Oralie after Lina's death. Most items pertain to Lina's artistic pursuits, such as vocal performances and published novels. Incoming correspondence to Lina and condolence letters to her family following her death are also present.

The Printed Items series is made up of postcards, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and other items. Newspaper Clippings pertain to numerous topics, such as William S. Lodge's political career, interstate commerce legislation, labor news, and members of the Bartlett family.

The collection contains three Pamphlets:
  • Defence of Washington A. Bartlett, Ex-Lieutenant, United States Navy: Read and admitted to Record, by Naval Court of Inquiry... New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857.
  • International Association for the Total Suppression of Vivisection. "The Woman" and the Age: A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., First Lord of the Treasury. London: E. W. Allen, 1881.
  • Olcott, Henry S. The Spirit of the Zoroastrian Religion. Bombay: 1882.

Other printed material includes poems by Barrington Lodge; engravings of Washington A. Bartlett; a colored print showing a woman in a dress that Ruth Budd Bartlett wore during a royal reception; and a campaign poster for William S. Lodge's mayoral campaign in Albany, New York.

The Genealogy series contains information about Washington A. Bartlett's descendants and allied families, particularly the Lodge family.

Collection

Charles Deane collection, 1840-1909 (majority within 1848-1889)

0.25 linear feet

This collection contains correspondence that Charles Deane, a merchant and historian based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received in the mid-19th century. Deane's correspondents included ministers, historians, and politicians, who discussed American history, contemporary historiography, and the activities of historical societies in the Boston area.

This collection contains correspondence, gift acknowledgements, engraved portraits, and photographs related to Charles Deane, a merchant and historian based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Deane's correspondents included ministers, historians, and politicians, who discussed American history, contemporary historiography, and the activities of Boston-area historical societies.

The Correspondence series (165 items) contains 146 letters to Charles Deane, 5 letters to Robert C. Waterston, 4 letters to Helen Waterston Deane, and 10 letters to Deane's children and other recipients. Charles Deane's correspondents provided news of social events in Boston and Cambridge, particularly related to local historical and antiquarian societies. Many writers offered opinions on Deane's writings, acknowledged the receipt of his publications, or thanked Deane for reviewing their own material. Others discussed topics in American history. One partially printed invitation regards a "Popham Celebration" in honor of the founding of the first English colony in North America (August 10, 1869). Additional items include a condolence letter from Thomas Wentworth to Helen Deane after Charles Deane's death (November 14, 1889).

Charles Deane received 8 Gift Acknowledgements between April 17, 1845, and October 13, 1864, thanking him for contributions to the Harvard University Library (6 items), the Boston Public Library (1 item), and the Boston Athenaeum (1 item). The documents are signed by Josiah Quincy, John Langdon Sibley, and other library affiliates. Two Engraved Portraits depict William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) and Amos Lawrence (1786-1852).

The Photographs series contains 3 carte-de-visite studio portraits depicting William Ellery Channing, Ezra Stiles Gannett, and George Livermore.

Collection

Christopher Hughes papers, 1801-1908 (majority within 1814-1884)

5.5 linear feet

This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American diplomat.

This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American chargé d'affaires.

The papers also include financial papers, military documents, property documentation, materials related to the San Pedro Company, writings, poetry, sketches, photographs, ephemera, and other printed items. Among the writings is an 1840 account of a visit by Christopher Hughes to physician Fru Jansen at Catherineberg for health care; 1842 travel writing by Margaret Hughes; and manuscript and printed poetry, including dinner toasts, a valentine poem, an acrostic on Margaret's name, translations, and more.

Other selected items include pencil sketches of four of the five peace commissioners at the Treaty of Ghent negotiations in Belgium, by Dutch artist P. van Huffel, January 1815. The portraits include John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, and Christopher Hughes (as secretary of the delegation). A group of 24 photographs from the early 1930s depict the grave of Laura Smith Hughes (1795-1832) and the church where she was buried, Bromme Church in Akershof, near Stockholm, Sweden, and a variety of other people and places.

Please see the Christopher Hughes Indices and Notes for an index of letter writers and inventories of non-correspondence materials.

Collection

Clarke family papers, 1823-1929 (majority within 1851-1912)

3 linear feet

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, writings, documents, and other items related to the Clarke family of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire. The materials concern the Civil War, life in 19th-century New Hampshire, education, and other subjects.

This collection contains correspondence, diaries, writings, documents, and other items related to the Clarke family of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire.

The Correspondence series (approximately 920 items) comprises the bulk of the collection. Most of the correspondence written between the 1850s and the early 1870s is made up of letters between and addressed to William Cogswell Clarke, Anna Maria Greely Clarke, and their three eldest children: Stephen Greely Clarke and his wife, Lydia Mason Wight Clarke; Anna Norton Clarke and her husband, Robert M. Appleton; and Julia Cogswell Clarke. A few letters by Mary Ann Wight are also present. Letter enclosures include a lock of hair, plants, cartes-de-visite, and newspaper clippings.

The Clarke family's personal correspondence focuses primarily on life in and news of Gilmanton and Manchester, New Hampshire throughout the 19th century. Writers discussed religious beliefs and activities; romantic relationships, courtship, and marriage; births and deaths; social activities; teaching and education; politics; and other subjects. During the Civil War, some writers shared news of battles, regiments, casualties, and the general progress of the war.

After 1871, many items are incoming and outgoing letters between and addressed to Julia C. Clarke, her sister Anna, and their mother. Some of Julia's letters pertain to her life in Framingham, Massachusetts, while Anna Clarke Appleton and Anna Greely Clarke provided news from Lake Village, New Hampshire, and Manchester, New Hampshire. During the 1880s, Julia wrote a series of letters to William H. Ladd, discussing newspaper advertising (particularly with regard to schools); her experiences in Lake Village, Kents Hill (Maine), and Boston, where she worked for the Chauncy Hall School; and advice for Ladd's upcoming visit to Europe. Groups of enclosed newspaper clippings contain advertisements for educational institutions. Other late personal letters to members of the Clarke family concern travel in Asia, estate administration, and finances.

Additional correspondence from the 1870s to the 1910s includes a large number of business letters, including many related to Stephen G. Clarke's legal career. Other groups of correspondence include letters to Edward Reilly of San Francisco, California, about mining concerns in Arizona and New Mexico; to Lafayette H. De Friese of New York City about the timber industry and shipments of logs; and to a man named "Bagley" of New York City. Other personal correspondence includes love letters from "Dolph" to "Sadie" and letters related to O. F. Bryant, who taught at or attended Chauncy Hall School. New York City lawyer Ernest G. Stevens received several business letters in the early 1910s.

The Diaries and Journals series consists of 5 items. Anna Maria Greely (later Clarke) kept 2 diaries from October 12, 1828-June 19, 1829, and June 26, [1872]-September 21, 1872. Her entries, which were written mostly on loose scraps of paper, concern daily life, social calls, and activities with family members and acquaintances. The later diary contains frequent mentions of Clarke's children. The remaining items concern an unidentified author's Bible readings and Christian beliefs (September 12, 1858-April 24, 1859); "Mrs. Robinson's" desire to write a journal for the benefit of her 7-year-old daughter Kitty, who required instruction in housekeeping (July 1, 1868); and Emma F. Moore's "Two Days on the Concord River," describing her travels with a companion (undated).

The Writings series is comprised of essays (15 items), published articles (2 items), letters to the editor (6 items), drafts (2 items), rejected submissions (9 items), "A Reading of the Will: A Farce" (1 item), "Seminal Weakness" (1 item), poems (30 items), and a speech. The essays, by Stephen G. Clarke, Lydia M. Wight, and Anna Greely Clarke, concern topics such as politics and history, morality and religion, English and Latin grammar, teaching and education, and horse breeding. The rejected submissions are primarily poetry, including one about African Americans. "The Reading of the Will" is a farce and "Seminal Weakness" is a lengthy essay on the male reproductive system. Many of the poems concern religion and nature. The 54-page speech is a presidential address delivered by Dr. Nahum Wight before the New Hampshire Medical Society. He discussed the society's history and goals, medical history and education, and his own medical career.

The School Papers series contains Latin Exercises (5 items), Academic Notes (19 items), Debates (2 items), and items related to the Chauncey Hall School (21 items). The academic notes and debates largely pertain to Stephen G. Clarke's studies, including items regarding animal classification and birds. One lengthy debate considered whether men were influenced more by women or money. The Chauncy Hall School subseries consists of newspaper advertisements, several copies of a printed advertisement, and correspondence from recipients of a circular and from managers at the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph and the Chicago Tribune. One item is an invitation to the school's "Promotion Day," held on June 12, 1894.

The Documents series is divided into two subseries. Financial Documents (10 items), most of which concern Stephen G. Clarke, include accounts, receipts, a promissory note, and bank checks. One document between Willard B. Farwell and the American Machine Gun Company concerns the ownership of Farwell's inventions and patents. Printed Documents (11 items) include certificates regarding Stephen G. Clarke's attendance at Harvard University (July 16, 1855) and Josephine Evarts's license to practice medicine in Connecticut (April 1, 1929), documents regarding the activities of the American Folklore Society and the Wednesday Club (1892 and undated), and descriptions of an invention, the Hussey Motor Battery, by Willard B. Farwell (undated). A price list for advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and a sign regarding the treatment of animals in a scientific laboratory are also present.

Newspaper Clippings (12 items) include obituaries for William C. Clarke, articles about the Clarke family, advice for young writers, advertisements, and poetry.

The Photographs series (2 items) contains a portrait of an unidentified man, likely taken around the 1860s or 1870s, and a picture of a home and its large front garden. Both prints are mounted on large cards.

The Genealogy series consists of family trees written into a bound volume of blank genealogical tables that belonged to Julia C. Clarke. The tables concern ancestors of Julia C. Clarke and their families; some lineages are traced back as far as the 1600s. Many of the pages have cut-out sections to coordinate records across different trees and pages.

Collection

Clinton-Genêt family collection, 1781-1908

37 items

The collection primarily consists of personal correspondence between Cornelia Tappan Clinton Genêt (1774-1810) and Edmond Charles Genêt (1763-1834), both before and after their marriage, as well as letters to and from members of the Clinton-Genêt family. Correspondence covers personal and family matters as well as commentary on political figures and events.

The Clinton-Genêt family collection is made up of 30 letters and drafts, one partially printed invitation, one manuscript epitaph, two printed images, and three pins/ribbons related to Cornelia Tappan Clinton Genêt (1774-1810) and Edmond Charles Genêt (1763-1834). While the collection spans from 1781-1908, the bulk of the letters begin in 1781, during the waning years of the American Revolution, and continue with regularity through 1810. The collection includes a draft of Edmund Genêt's epitaph, two-tone reproductions of George Clinton and of Gov. Clinton's home in New York, as well as ribbons and pins honoring Governor George Clinton on May 28, 1908. For details about each item, see the complete inventory in the "Detailed Box and Folder Listing" below.

Collection

Dwight-Willard-Alden-Allen-Freeman family papers, 1752-1937

2,910 items (11 linear feet)

This collection is made up of the papers of five generations of the Dwight, Willard, Alden, Allen, and Freeman families of the East Coast and (later) U.S. Midwest, between 1752 and 1937. Around 3/4 of the collection is incoming and outgoing correspondence of family members, friends, and colleagues. The primary persons represented are Lydia Dwight of Massachusetts and her husband John Willard, who served in the French and Indian War; Connecticut mother Abigail Willard along with her husband Samuel Alden, who ran an apothecary in Hanover, New Jersey; Allen Female Seminary School alumna and teacher Sarah J. Allen; American Civil War surgeon Otis Russell Freeman; Presbyterian minister and temperance advocate Rev. Samuel Alden Freeman; and prominent public librarian Marilla Waite Freeman. The papers also include diaries and journals, writings, school certificates, military and ecclesiastical documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, advertisements, business and name cards, invitations to events, and brochures for plays and other performances.

The collection is arranged first by family grouping, then by material type. These series roughly reflect the arrangement of the collection when it arrived at the William L. Clements Library.

The Dwight-Willard-Alden Family Papers are comprised of around 250 items, dating between 1752 and 1884. One fifth or so of this grouping is predominantly correspondence between Lydia Dwight/Lydia Dwight Willard, her father, stepmother, siblings, husband, and sons, 1752-1791. These intermarried families were based largely in Sheffield and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The letters include discussions about mending and cleaning clothing; feelings about their father/husband gone to serve in the French and Indian War; putting up a monument to replace faltering graves; the return of Elijah and Col. Williams from the field on account of sickness; coming and going of soldiers; moral and practical advice; teaching and boarding young students during the war; settling into (“no longer free”) married life; the death of Bathsheba Dwight; the meeting of local men in private homes and the training of minute men in Stockbridge; the prolonged case of smallpox experienced by Lydia’s son in 1785; and news of John Willard, Jr.’s admission to Harvard.

The remaining four fifths of this grouping are largely incoming correspondence of Abigail Willard Alden (1771-1832) and her daughter Abigail Alden (1809-1854). Their correspondents were located in Stafford, Connecticut; Hanover and Lancaster, New Hampshire; Lunenburg, Vermont; and elsewhere. They begin with letters from siblings and parents to the newly married Abigail Willard Alden (ca. 1800); Samuel Alden travel letters to New York City; and news of a Stafford doctor named Chandler who had promised marriage to a woman and then fleeced her for $500 before fleeing to parts unknown. A group of letters regard pharmacy matters, the burning of Samuel Willard’s drugstore (January-April 1802), and the state of Anti-Federalists and Federalists in Stafford (1802). A large portion the letters include content on sickness and health, with varying degrees of detail, including several family members sick and dying from measles in 1803. Other topics include Hanover, New Hampshire, gossip on local premarital sex; a debate on whether or not to hire a black female domestic laborer; comments on a local suicide attempt; a young woman deliberating on objections to women spending time reading novels (April 10, 1806); and treatment by a quack doctor. These papers also include two diaries, poetry and essays, two silhouettes, genealogical manuscripts, and miscellaneous printed items.

The Allen Family Papers are largely incoming letters to Sarah Jane Allen prior to her marriage to Samuel A. Freeman (around 300 items), and from her father-in-law Otis Russell Freeman (around 60 items) between 1860 and 1865. An abundance of the letters were written to Sarah while she attended the Allen Female Seminary in Rochester, New York, and afterward when she lived at Honeoye Falls, New York. They include letters from her parents, cousins, friends, and siblings. A sampling suggests that the bulk are letters by young women attempting to eke out a life for themselves through seminary education, teaching, and domestic labor. Among much else, they include content on Elmira Female Seminary, New York state travel, and female friendship and support.

The Otis Russell Freeman letters date between 1862 and 1865, while he served as a surgeon in the 10th and 14th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. He wrote about the everyday camp life with a focus on the health and sickness of the soldiers. His letters include content on the defenses of Washington, D.C., fighting at Cold Harbor and outside Richmond, Virginia, the surrender of Robert E. Lee, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln's body lying in state at Jersey City. Two carte-de-visite photographs of Otis Freeman are present.

A diary kept by Sarah J. Allen began on the day of her marriage, September 26, 1865, documents her honeymoon to Niagara Falls. It ends in November 1865. The remainder of the volume is filled with recipes for baked goods, pickles, and other foods. The printed items include ephemera from Sarah Jane Allen’s tenure at Elmira Female College five issues of the Callisophia Society’s newspaper The Callisophia (vol. 1, nos. 1, 3-6; March/April 1860-January/February 1861), as well as a Catalogue of Books in Callisophia Library, December 1862.

The Samuel Alden Freeman Family Papers include approximately 300 largely incoming letters to Presbyterian minister S. A. Freeman, plus printed materials, ephemera, photographs, and bound volumes, dating in the 1810s and from the 1860s to 1880s. Correspondence of his second wife Olive dates from the 1810s in central New York. The collection includes letters to S. A. Freeman from his first wife Sarah, daughter Abigail Alden Freeman (1873-1925), and Sara Harriet Freeman (1879-1946). These materials include courtship correspondence of Sarah Jane Allen and S. A. Freeman. A considerable portion relates to Presbyterianism and at least one temperance society pledge sheet is present. Approximately 50 photographs, about half of them identified, are largely of Samuel A. Freeman and the Freeman daughters Marilla and Abigail. Among the printed ephemeral items are advertisements for programming at Corinthian Hall (probably Rochester, New York), items related to a Sunday School Association (including a printed broadside catalog of books at a N.J. Sunday School), and pamphlets on Presbyterianism. A medicinal recipe book from the mid-19th century and a commonplace book of poetry are examples of the S. A. Freeman family bound volumes.

The collection concludes with letters, photographs, ephemera, and printed items comprising the Marilla Waite Freeman Papers. Around 600 letters are largely incoming to public librarian M. W. Freeman from female educators and librarians. They discussed their profession, books, reading, and intellectual topics. A small clutch of letters, about three dozen manuscript and typed poems, and a dozen or more newspaper clippings, 1900s-1910s, comprise poet Floyd Dell’s contributions to the collection. Marilla also corresponded with poets and writers Margaret Todd Ritter, Robert Frost and Mrs. Frost, and Marie Bullock about public and private recitations and lectures. Examples of subjects covered by the printed materials include orations, educational/school/college items, library-related items, newspapers and clippings, fliers, women's clubs, New York City theater, the American Library Association, Poetry Society of America, poems by various authors, such as Ina Robert and John Belknap, visiting and business cards, and travel.

Collection

Eaton-Shirley family papers, 1790-1939 (majority within 1850-1906)

1,903 items (5 linear feet)

The Eaton-Shirley family papers consist of personal diaries, correspondence, military papers, legal and business documents, printed materials, and photographs. A primary figure in the collection, John Eaton, Jr., was Civil War Superintendent of the Freedmen and later Commissioner of Education under Grant. The papers also contains substantial material from other Eaton family members, including military papers and correspondence of his brother, Lucien B. Eaton, and papers of the Shirley family (the family of John Eaton, Jr.’s wife, Alice E. Shirley).

The Eaton papers consist of 1,903 items, dating from September 1790 to July 30, 1939. The bulk of the collection falls between 1850 and 1906. The papers contain 318 letters, 9 diaries/journals, 60 personal documents of John Eaton Jr., 275 legal documents and business papers, 112 military documents, 923 photographs, 84 printed items, and 122 miscellaneous items.

The majority of the correspondence is personal and relates to family matters. The 168 letters of John Eaton, Jr., contain extensive biographical information. Of particular interest are 44 Civil War-era letters including information about the freedmen, three letters pertaining to the publication of The Post, and two with content regarding the Ku Klux Klan. The collection also contains 22 letters to and from Alice (Shirley) Eaton, 31 letters to and from Lucien Eaton, and 32 miscellaneous letters from members of the Eaton family. Of the 30 letters written by Alice Eaton's parents (James and Adelaine Shirley), 10 letters regard compensation for the damage done to the Shirley House during the Civil War. Various other members of the Shirley family wrote 15 letters, and 20 letters are from other people unrelated to the Eaton and Shirley families.

John Eaton Jr.’s aunt, Ruth Dodge Eaton, wrote two diaries which consist almost entirely of Christian hymns and essays. John Eaton Jr.'s uncle, Horace Eaton, wrote one diary that contains Christian material written while he attended Dartmouth College. John Eaton, Jr., wrote two diaries, one of which he wrote as a youth, and the other as a student at Dartmouth. Other journals include two by John Eaton Jr.'s brothers, Frederick and Charles, and a household account book, kept by his sister Christina. Of particular importance is Alice Shirley’s diary, in which she described pre-civil war tensions between the north and the south, speculation on the upcoming Siege of Vicksburg, the early stages of the Siege of Vicksburg, and very personal feelings regarding her marriage to John Eaton, Jr.

The 60 personal papers of John Eaton Jr. include 17 documents regarding his appointments and titles, two documents about freedmen, and 41 miscellaneous address cards and invitations (including an invitation to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Of the 275 legal papers, 74 documents pertain to the sale of land in Mississippi; 7 concern Robert M. Jones’s claim to Choctaw Nation lands; and 25 relate to estate papers, deeds of trust and documents about the proceedings of Adelaine Shirley’s post-war relief claims; and a receipt for the sale of an African American woman. The remaining 176 legal papers are miscellaneous financial documents, such as tax documents, checks, and receipts.

Of the 112 military documents, 58 pertain to John Eaton, Jr., 7 of which are about freedmen. The military documents of Lucien B. Eaton number 54.

The 923 photographs consist of six photo albums, 31 cased daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, 144 cabinet cards, and 421 loose photographs and snapshots all depicting members of the Eaton and Shirley families, scenic locations, and the Shirley House.

Of the 84 printed items in the collection, 49 newspaper clippings pertain to the occupational and personal activities of John Eaton, Jr., and 9 miscellaneous clippings relate to the Eaton family. The remaining 26 items are published pamphlets, including addresses and reports concerning John Eaton, Jr.; a sermon written by Horace Eaton; a report of proceedings of an Ohio Brigade reunion; an Anti-Slavery Almanac from 1838; and an incomplete piece describing the history and restoration of the Shirley House.

The 122 miscellaneous papers of the John Eaton, Jr., collection consist of 53 recipes and 69 miscellaneous items including a partial autobiography of Alice Eaton.

Collection

Evarts Kent family papers, 1790-1928 (majority within 1867-1904)

4.25 linear feet

Online
This collection is made up of letters written and received by Reverend Evarts Kent and members of his family throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kent and his family corresponded with friends and family members in several states, including Vermont, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Most letters concern family news, education, religion, travel, family relationships, and similar personal subjects. The collection also includes printed invitations, programs, and 23 photographs.

This collection is made up of letters written and received by Reverend Evarts Kent and members of his family throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kent and his family corresponded with friends and family members in several states, including Vermont, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Most letters concern family news, education, religion, travel, family relationships, and similar personal subjects. The collection also includes 2 documents and 23 photographs; printed invitations and programs are interspersed among the letters.

The Correspondence series comprises most of the collection, and contains approximately 4 linear feet of letters, which are primarily the incoming personal correspondence of Evarts Kent, his wife, and their children. The earliest items are Civil War-era letters between unidentified family members. The bulk of the collection begins around 1867, when Evarts Kent began to receive letters from his family and friends, who provided local news from Ripton, Vermont, and often commented on his recent marriage to Helen Beckwith. As Kent's father, Cephas, was a Congregational minister, the Kent family frequently discussed religious topics. In the early and mid-1880s, Michael E. Strieby and Joseph E. Roy of the American Missionary Association also corresponded with Kent.

After the mid-1870s, the correspondence is primarily between Evarts and Helen Kent and their children, Ernest, Grace, and Willys, who exchanged letters with their parents and each other from their childhood into their early adult lives. Ernest discussed his educational experiences, including his time at Iowa College,his experiences in preparatory school and as a young adult and at Iowa College, and occasionally composed letters to his father in Latin. The Kent siblings sometimes included sketches or more refined drawings within their letters. Their letters reveal details about their relationships with each other, their personal lives, and their religious beliefs. Later items from the World War I era often concern Willys's wife, who signed herself "Roxi," and the couple's experiences while spending their summers at Camp Arcadia in Belgrade, Maine. A relative named "Jupe" also wrote Evarts Kent an extensive series of letters throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including a group of 20th-century letters about travel in the Black Mountains of North Carolina.

The Documents series is made up of a 2-page document containing several sets of church minutes compiled in Benson, Vermont, between March 1790 and September 1792, and a partially printed receipt for a payment made to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in 1870.

The Photographs series holds 23 photographs, primarily snapshots, of unidentified individuals. Though most are portraits, 2 depict a woman riding a bicycle and one is a self portrait of a woman, "taken by herself in front of a looking glass." The photographs include one cyanotype.

Collection

Florence Romaine collection, 1822-1985 (majority within 1843-1907)

0.75 linear feet

The Florence Romaine collection is comprised of correspondence, documents, genealogies, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings related to the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and to the acting career of Florence Smith Romaine.

The Florence Romaine collection (1 linear foot) is comprised of correspondence, documents, genealogies, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings related to the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and to the acting career of Florence Smith Romaine.

The Correspondence series (59 items) contains personal letters between members of the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families; many are written in French. Most of the material is dated from 1843-1907; the collection also includes 3 early letters to members of the Brossard family, as well as postcards that Florence Smith Romaine wrote to Grace Maxwell from 1962-1963. The series includes letters to Claude Ferdinand de Brossard from various correspondents; to Ferdinand de Brossard and Jenny de Brossard Draper from their mother, Elizabeth de Brossard; to Elizabeth Brossard from her sister-in-law, Julie de Brossard; to Jenny de Brossard Draper from Seth Enos Smith; and to Florence Smith Romaine from her mother, Jenny Draper Smith, and grandmother, Jenny de Brossard Draper. Other items include 6 letters to C. C. Randall.

The Writings series consists of 3 items by Florence Smith Romaine: a rumination on night written around 1905, a play entitled "The Silver Bell of Hat-Shep-Sut's Cat," and Whistling Bill, a children's book published in 1937.

Documents are divided into three subseries: Legal Documents (7 items), Business Documents (3 items), and Awards and Diplomas (2 items). Legal documents include birth certificates, marriage certificates, and passports related to Claude and Elisabeth Brossard and their descendants, as well as a copy of Florence Smith Romaine's will. Business documents are related to Brossard family accounts. The award and diploma concern Jenny Draper's academic achievements at the Chegaray Institute and a Brossard family member's receipt of the Fleur de Lys.

The Photographs series has two subseries: Photograph Album and Loose Photographs. The photograph album (26 pages) contains 104 cartes-de-visite and tintype studio portraits, including portraits of members of the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families. Two pages from a photograph album of the Romaine family are housed separately. Loose photographs (32 items), including 2 cased items (one housed in the Graphics Division), mostly show Florence Romaine in theatrical costumes; several photographs show members of the Smith and Draper families.

Two Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, programs, notes, and other items regarding Florence Romaine's acting career, as well as articles, children's stories, and puzzles that she wrote for The Christian Science Monitor in 1924 and 1925. The Newspaper Clippings (3 items) concern the career of Worthington L. Romaine and the deaths of Seth and Seth E. Smith.

Genealogies and Family Histories consist of a pamphlet about the descendants of Henry and Elizabeth Smith, including Seth Enos Smith and Florence Smith Romaine; manuscript and typed notes pertaining to the Draper and Stull families and to the life of Florence Romaine; and pages from Thomas Waln-Morgan Draper's 1892 genealogy The Drapers in America.

Miscellaneous Items and Fragments (17 items) include notes and poetry (in French), 2 invitations, a copy of a recommendation letter for Father Marie-Joseph de Geramb to the governor of Cairo, and a promotional pamphlet for "Florence May Smith."

Collection

George Albert Thomas papers, 1829-1847

0.5 linear feet

The George Albert Thomas papers consist of the personal letters and writings of George Albert Thomas of Portland, Maine. The letters revolve around art, politics, philosophy, and cultural activities in Portland.

The George Albert Thomas papers (283 items) consist of the personal letters and writings of George Albert Thomas of Portland, Maine. The letters relate to art, politics, philosophy, and cultural activities in Portland.

The Correspondence series (226 items) consists largely of letters written to George A. Thomas by his brothers, Charles, Edward, and John; his sister Charlotte; his mother Elizabeth; and college mates. George wrote a few of the letters. The Thomas family and their friends were interested in the pursuit of education and the cultivation of the mind, and their correspondence revolves around the currents of the intellectual life and the social bonds among the educated elite. Letter topics include the state of national and regional politics; current events and movements, such as anti-slavery and temperance; education at Bowdoin College and elsewhere; and contemporary literature, poetry, music, and opera. Thomas was also involved with organizing concerts at the Third Parish of Portland and at St. Stephen’s Church. George Thomas wrote his letters while he was studying law in Portland; he described his studies and his interest in his new career. Charlotte Thomas typically wrote about family matters and her education. This series contains 24 undated letters.

Letters of note include:
  • 1833 to 1836: eleven letters written by Samuel Longfellow, brother of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, while a student at the Portland Academy.
  • October 26, 1836: a letter addressed to the President explaining “why emigration to this country ought not to be tolerated.”
  • October 20, 1837: a letter from a friend explaining the curriculum at Bowdoin College.
  • February 1, 1843: a letter describing the cultural amenities of Boston, and a sketch of the Boston Millerite tabernacle.
  • July 19, 1843: a letter containing a short four-voice religious tune composed by the letter writer, Edward Howe, Jr.
  • March 10, 1844: a letter from Daniel Webster Fessenden, a Portland lawyer who was active with the Underground Railroad, scolding Thomas for sneaking off to Harvard.
  • January 11, 1849: a letter from a friend named Enriquo, describing the music culture in Havana, including opera and,band performances, as well as the performers and composers in the city. Also in the letter is an account of the women of Havana and the celebration of the Epiphany: “King’s Day” or “the day of kissing hands,” when the “'colored poppelation' turned out for a frolic, male and female, dressed in fantastic, grotesque, and native african costumes, armed with tin & wood spears & swords with musical instruments of native manufacture."

The School Essays series (19 items) contains Thomas’ writings from his time at Bowdoin College, 1840 to 1841, with 14 undated items. These essays include poetry and literary criticism, a defense of capital punishment, an essay on chivalry’s place in history, an assessment of the author Richard Cumberland, and thoughts on the worth of such intellectual pursuits as the study of art and philosophy.

Other important essays are entitled:
  • On the probable continuation of the present United States of America as one undivided nation
  • A stray leaf from my Journal: War should be abolished for the following reasons…
  • Causes which affect the National Taste -- in regard to Art or Literature

The Writings and Extracts series (10 items) consists of handwritten excerpts of poetry and prose from Goethe, Percy Shelley, Voltaire, and others. Of note is a four-page account of Thomas’ “serenades” of 1835-1837, which are accounts of feasting, drinking, and socializing with friends in Philadelphia.

The Documents, Printed Items, and Ephemera series (28 items) contains 12 miscellaneous items from Thomas’ time at Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School, including tickets of merit, printed event programs, and library lending permissions. Also present are 16 items related to church congregations and businesses in Portland, Maine.