April 16, 1701

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, in her book Good Wives, uses the term “deputy husband” in describing one of many roles a woman assumed as a wife.   Sarah Butler was acting as a “deputy husband” when she gave her consent to William Gaylord to propose marriage to her daughter Hope.  A remarkable letter written by Sarah Butler recently came into our possession and has amazed all of us by its uniqueness.

Sarah Stone married Thomas Butler of Hartford, Connecticut and with him had 13 children.  By 1688, Thomas was dead and she still had children at home, including her youngest, Hope.

She responded to a letter from a kinsman of William Gaylord,  in which he expressed William’s desire that she provide her “approbation or allowance” so he could “treat” with her daughter Hope “in order to an agreement of marrying”.

In her April 16, 1701 letter, she writes “I have considered of the motion and have looked up to God for direction and commendation of the man concerning his peaceable disposition & your hopes of grace & also something concerning his advantage for maintenance in this life.”  These were concerns a father would surely have had for his daughter, particularly the man’s ability to support a wife. In this case, however, Sarah had to take charge.

Sarah gives her consent in this letter, and a year later William and Hope were married.

Sarah Butler letter, 1701 April 16. Ms 100711.

Hartford’s Mayor Mortensen

William Mortensen was born in Hartford in 1903, the son of Danish immigrants. He attended Antioch College in Ohio and took classes at the Hartford College of Law.  For 40 years Mortensen managed the Bushnell Memorial Hall. Upon his retirement, well-wishers included Carol Channing, with whom he had posed for a photograph when the actress performed at the Bushnell. Additionally, Mortensen served as Mayor of Hartford (Republican), a State Senator, and as a member of several other boards and committees. Mortensen earned honorary degrees from Trinity College and the University of Hartford.

Among the many types of papers found within this collection, which is finally being cataloged thanks to our NHPRC-funded grant, are life records, audio recordings, photographs, diplomas and awards, deeds, wills, financial records, diaries, and correspondence from family, friends, and co-workers. The correspondence particularly demonstrates Mortensen’s longtime association with the Seaverns family. The Bushnell Memorial was the brainchild of Mary Bushnell (Hillyer) Seaverns and her mother, Dotha (Bushnell) Hillyer. Mrs. Seaverns’ husband, Charles Frederick Taft Seaverns was President of the Bushnell and worked with Mortensen for many years. Mortensen also maintained friendships with the Seaverns’ son Appleton and grandson Charles.

Mortensen and his first wife, Alice, began the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation. The Mortensen’s gave generously to local non-profit organizations, including the University of Hartford and Hartford Public Library. Mortensen died at his Old Saybrook home in 1990 at age 87. He was survived by his second wife, Trice.

William H. Mortensen Papers and Records, 1922-1990.  Ms 98235

Stonington, Connecticut.

One of the largest collections cataloged for our grant project was the Stonington selectmen’s records, 1792-1903.  The collection, measures 30.25 linear feet (61 boxes) and dates from the entire 19th century, the bulk of the records are from the 1880s and 1890s. Earlier records, from the 1820s, have yielded names of colored people (a term often used to refer to Native Americans) and Negroes living in town. Later records detail purchases of groceries for the poor, schoolhouse expenses, and labor for highway repairs. Each month the selectmen would submit their bill to the town, complete with all their receipts. Earlier submissions were entirely handwritten, but by the 1880s the majority of the documentation was written on pre-printed forms.

Among the more interesting discoveries was that supplies for the poor were divided among the five voting districts, with the second district receiving the most assistance. Also, dog owners were fined if their dog killed or injured a sheep.  By 1890 the fine for this offence was up to five dollars per sheep.

Also of interest are many bills for town residents enrolled at the Connecticut School for Imbeciles and those receiving services at the Connecticut State Hospital. There are several mentions of town residents being treated for small pox. A list, compiled during the Civil War, provides the names of substitutes drafted to serve in place of Stonington residents.  MS 70293

Connecticut composers

Herman Katims, and his wife Miriam Lapin Katims,  were pianists and composers who lived for many years in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut. The couple each had several pieces of music published. The collection contains copies of their copyright registrations with the Library of Congress. Copies of their songs, including “Caprice and Fuge”, “No Longer” and “Knickerbocker on Parade” can be found as well. The bulk of the papers are manuscript musical compositions, most without any provenance.  We hope a person with more music knowledge than any one on our staff has can help us identify some of these pieces.  These manuscript compositions are found in both spiral notebooks and loose pages. Family photographs are also included. In 1935 Herman Katims performed in Carnegie Hall. Oversized items in the collection are a poster from the Carnegie Hall performance and additional music scores. Miriam Katims taught piano lessons to local students. The couple also owned their own music publishing company, The Lyric Music Company, which they operated out of their home.

Herman Katims Music Collection, 1930-1980, MS 94883.

Anchors and figureheads

Although small in size, the collection of Noah Scovell shipping papers, 1768-1812, is filled with some fascinating information.  The collection consists primarily of correspondence and bills and receipts of a Saybrook, Connecticut, ship captain and shipowner and his son. Letters discuss such topics as trading in the West Indies and Portugal, purchasing anchors in New London and New York City, and the purchase of a figurehead in New York.  Bills and receipts reflect the same items–shipping and trade, anchors purchased from Lamberton Cooper and Peter Spencer, and ordering a woman’s figure as a figurehead.  The figurehead information is probably the most unique.  For those who like ship building, there are specifications and other documents concerning the construction of the Ship Northern Liberties.  To round out this collection, there is personal and business correspondence of Noah Scovell, Jr., with letters to his mother, father, and brother Lewis.  This is only one of several collections we own documenting the work and life of Scovell and his son.  He would make a great topic for an article in a historical publication.
Ms 60072

Bells in East Hampton.

As part of our NHPRC-funded cataloging project, archivists are looking through collections that have never been cataloged and adding records for our online catalog.  One recently cataloged collection is N.N. Hill Brass Co. Records, 1893-1917, Ms 100549.  The collection consists of cash books, sales records, labor accounts, ledgers, invoice books, factory order slips, factory inventories, credit reports on other companies, and correspondence of this East Hampton, Connecticut, bell manufacturer.  Sales included gongs, rattles, scales, chimes, and tea, call and door bells, among other products.  Their customers were located throughout the east.

Unusual items of interest in this collection are:

correspondence with A. Mugford, a Hartford engraver, concerning the printing of a catalog for N.N. Hill, 1902-1906.

correspondence with Muller, Maclean & Co., New York City merchants, who in 1906 were trying to make a contact to sell bells overseas.

and a long correspondence, 1902-1912, with the Wm. L. Gilbert Clock Co. of Winsted, Connecticut, which included orders, requests for delivery, and complaints about the quality of products.  The letterhead for Gilbert Clock illustrates the factory building.

Found with these materials are two ledgers, numbered 7 and 8, with entries for customers, most from East Hampton, Connecticut, for such items as cheese, overalls, bacon, oil, beef, oats, and “merchandise”, 1896-1908.  These may be the records of the company store, or of an independent merchant in town; unfortunately, there is no identification.

East Hampton was the “bell capitol” of Connecticut, so having this collection finally see the light of day is significant from both a local history and a manufacturing history point of view.

Founding Fathers

I have been unnaturally quiet recently, working feverishly on cataloging at least 900 collections before September 2010.  I am not doing this alone, however.  I am ably assisted by Project Archivist Jennifer Sharp, several volunteers, and CHS’s Assistant Archivist Cyndi Harbeson.  Since September 1 we have created more than 150 catalog records.  We are off to a good start.

For my part of the project, I decided to tackle two of what I considered our most important collections, although until I actually went through them I had no idea just how important.  The first was the papers of Jeremiah Wadsworth, who is one of the unsung founding fathers.  He was responsible for provisioning Washington’s troops against amazing odds–no teamsters to hire, no farmers willing to sell the bulk of their crops to the army, no money to pay the farmers, etc.  Eventually Jeremiah resigned as Quartermaster General, but shortly after his resignation, he was appointed agent for the French troops who were stationed in Newport, Rhode Island.   One of his responsibilities was obtaining provisions. As you may imagine, he ran into some of the same problems he had previously.  What I find most amazing, however, is his very active role in re-establishing trade with France after the close of the Revolution and his role in establishing the US bank.  His correspondents reads like a who’s who of the Revolution–Rochambeau, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the list goes on.

The second collection was the papers of William Samuel Johnson.  He was a lawyer from Stratford, Connecticut, and is credited with being the “Father” of the Connecticut Bar.   An Anglican, at one point he was arrested by the government of Connecticut as a loyalist, but was later excused. His attachment to Great Britain came in large part from his five years there representing the colony before the Privy Council in the Mohegan Case.  The evidence and testimony from this trial form a large portion of Johnson’s papers and include original deeds signed by Uncas and other Indian leaders, and documents signed by John Mason.  Johnson corresponded with people like Jared Ingersoll, Roger Sherman, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Eliphalet Dyer and Matthew Griswold on this side of the Atlantic and with Richard Jackson and Benjamin Latrobe from across the sea.

I can only scratch the surface of these two collections, but I can see several theses or a dissertation coming from either of them.  Once they are fully cataloged, I hope researchers make their way to these two extremely rich collections.

Two notable families

We just acquired a particularly rich family collection that we hope researchers will use a lot.  It consists of correspondence among members of the Terry and Bacon families of Hartford and New Haven, respectively.  Nathaniel Terry, the progenitor of the family, married Catherine Wadsworth.  Nathaniel was mayor of Hartford and a Congressman.  His sons were also quite distinguished and most of them attended and graduated from Yale.

One son, Adrian Russell Terry, was a physician, and his most fascinating letters are those written while he was in Ecuador trying to establish a medical practice there.  Great observations of the local land and citizens, plus a huge list of medical supplies he purchased in New York City are two of the highlights among his papers.

Charles A. Terry, another of Nathaniel’s sons, was also a physician and when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, he sent back vivid descriptions of that city.  His brother, Alfred Terry, was the most avid letter writer in the family.  His letters are mostly from his student days at Yale and later at Litchfield, Connecticut, where he studied law under James Gould.

Daughter Catherine Terry married noted minister, theologian and author Leonard Bacon.  All of their children (and there were plenty) wrote to mother about their activities, the development of their children, their relationships with other family members, etc.  Leonard Bacon and his son Leonard W. traveled to Europe and the Middle East from 1850-1851 and they wrote long, detailed letters of their impressions of the familiar and unfamiliar.

Catherine and Leonard’s son, Francis Bacon, a physician, wrote from Galveston, Texas where he tried (unsuccessfully) to get established in a practice.  His letters are filled with disparaging remarks about the lack of culture among the population there.  He also could not stand the weather.

George Bacon, another son, wrote several letters in the 1850s while he was on board the U.S.S. Portsmouth when it sailed to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Daughters Rebecca T. Bacon and Alice Mabel Bacon also made names for themselves, the first as an educator, the second as a teacher in Japan and as the founder of a nurses training school for African-American women in Hampton, Virginia.  And I could go on, as does the collection.

As I mentioned at the outset, this promises to be an extremely important research collection.  I cannot wait to learn what other gems exist in addition to the letters from Rutherford B. Hayes, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Lydia Sigourney and Alexis de Toqueville.

Eli Whitney orders supplies for his armory

Eli Whitney, best known for inventing the cotton gin, was also a pioneer in mass-producing firearms.  There is little documentation, however, about this aspect of his engineering prowess. In a letter CHS recently acquired, Whitney himself provides some specifics.

The letter was written to John Adam of the Forbes & Adam foundry in Canaan.  Whitney (through his secretary who wrote the missive) specifies that the trip hammer be “made about one inch wide and let it be left without hardening.”  He also requests that Adam “forward my gudgeons, stakes, husk, hammer &c to Litchfield.”  Next he asks for help building a workforce, including “one or two nailers who are expert workmen & masters of the business . . . It is my intention to employ them in forging some of the light limbs of the musket.”

Accompanying the letter is an order sheet, seemingly in Whitney’s own hand, with specifications for three pieces of rolled iron, two “gudgeons made to patterns”, a husk, socket, 10 stakes, and a hammer and “Half a ton of rolled iron . . .”  On the verso are pencil patterns of the gudgeon.  These two documents complement our Forbes & Adam account book collection and provide valuable insight into and documentation of Eli Whitney and his gun manufacture.

Boy Scout Jamboree, 1953

I have not posted to the blog for ages; too many things got in the way, I am afraid.  But I am back! On Thursday of this week, we received the most remarkable scrapbook. It was created by a young man from Wethersfield, Connecticut, Andrew Twaddle, who in 1953 took a cross-country train trip to attend a Boy Scout Jamboree in California. The scrapbook, like many from the first half of the 20th century is on very acidic and poor quality paper that crumbles when you touch it. Everything is affixed to the pages with cellophane tape that has yellowed and dried. Typical. It is the contents that is not so typical. This young man included a catalog for boyscout uniforms (G. Fox & Co. was the official outlet for Boy Scout equipment), the flyer for the jamboree, notes on the exciting things he saw while on the train, a diary (!), lots of newspaper clippings made by his aunt who lived in California, postcards to his parents, and, believe it or not, a cover for his flashlight that would make it glow red during one of the ceremonies.

I remember my brothers in Scouts, but I do not think they attended anything this big. What a wonderful experience it must have been for a pre-teen boy. Now we can preserve that experience here at CHS.