Poor (Family : Poor, Henry Varnum, 1812-1905)

Five generations of the Poor family, members of which were active in the clergy, business and social movements in New England, produced this collection, which centers on Henry Varnum Poor (1812-1905), a railroad journalist and economist, and on his wife Mary (Pierce) Poor (1820-1912), a participant in social reform movements and daughter of John Pierce (1773-1849) who for 50 years was minister of the First Church of Brookline, MA. Also represented are the Pierce family: John Pierce and his wife Lucy (Tappan) Pierce, daughter of Benjamin Tappan who was a progenitor of the abolitionist family; Lucy (Pierce) Hedge and her husband Frederic Henry Hedge (1805-1890), a transcendentalist minister; Henry Varnum Poor's children, including Henry William Poor (1844-1915), a New York banker; and Henry Varnum Poor's grandchildren.

Letters, diaries, clippings, photographs of the Poors and their related branches, covering five generations of New England life. Collection centers on Henry Varnum Poor, the railroad journalist and economist, and his wife, Mary Pierce Poor, participant in social reform movements and daughter of the Rev. John Pierce, minister of the First Church of Brookline, Mass. for fifty years. Early material relates to the Pierce family and includes letters of the Rev. Pierce and his wife, Lucy Tappan Pierce, daughter of Benjamin Tappan, progenitor of the abolitionist family and letters of Lucy Pierce Hedge and her husband, Frederic Henry Hedge, the Transcendentalist minister. Later papers contain the family letters of Henry Varnum Poor's children, including Henry William Poor, New York banker, and his grandchildren.