Gage family. Additional papers (Series I), 1785-1963.
Title:
Additional papers (Series I), 1785-1963.
This collection spans four generations of the Gage family of Bethel and Waterford, Me., and Worcester, Mass. The boxes contain family correspondence, speeches, essays, poetry, legal and miscellaneous, printed material, and genealogical and biographical information. Among the family correspondence are several extraordinary groups of letters of Anne Sargent Gage, her uncle, Lucius Manlius Sargent (1786-1867), her adoptive aunt, Mary Moody Emerson (1774-1863), and her friend, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894), the Transcendentalist teacher, author, and educational reformer. The letters of Lucius Manlius Sargent illuminate the relationship of Anne Sargent Gage with her natural father, Daniel Sargent, who, upon his remarriage in 1802, changed his daughter's surname to Brewer, sent her to Waterford to be reared by the Lincoln Ripleys, and ceased communicating with her. In 1854, Mrs. Gage sought to learn more about her past and initiated a correspondence with her uncle, who encouraged her to seek financial assistance from Daniel Sargent's legatees. The folders containing Anne Sargent Gage's correspondence concern her close relationship with her children and adoptive parents, for the most part, but there are a few letters written by her to Lucius Manlius Sargent concerning Daniel Sargent. The letters of Mary Moody Emerson, a noted New England intellectual, refer to her religious convictions, her infirmities, family matters (e.g., her nephew, Ralph Waldo Emerson), books that she read, and her attitude toward the War of 1812 and abolitionism. There are also references to Anne Sargent Gage's ancestry. The letters of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody provide a fascinating look at contemporary attitudes toward slavery, abolitionism, and social scandals in Boston. She make references to the views of her two brothers-in-law, Horace Mann (1796-1859) and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), as well as Wendell Phillips (1811-1884). The boxes of family correspondence also include letters of Anne Gage's cousin, Daniel Farnham ( - ), concerning family matters and his religious views; professional and family correspondence of Dr. Leander Gage, including letters from his patients and friends; and the correspondence of his children: Thomas Hovey Gage (who wrote to his children, and to his wife, Anna Maria Lane Gage, during his Civil War service as a surgeon); Anna Maria Lane Gage (who wrote to her children while they were in school, especially at Harvard College); Frances Gage Cousens; and Phebe Hovey Gage. There are also diaries of Frances Gage Cousens and Phebe Hovey Gage. There is correspondence of Dr. Homer Gage, Thomas Hovey Gage, Jr., and Mabel Carleton Gage. The brothers corresponded with each other, their parents, and with friends. Thomas Hovey Gage, Jr., also maintained an extensive correspondence concerning the family's genealogy, while Homer Gage wrote of his studies at Harvard. Mabel Carleton Gage also wrote to her brothers and corresponded, during the period 1936 to 1941, with Grace Morrison Boynton (1890- ) of Yenching University in China, who wrote of Chinese gardens in Peking and the political situation in that country. There is general family correspondence, including letters of Amos Gage, his wife, Louis Hovey Gage, and his brother, Abel Gage (1755- ), as well as a letter of Frances Cousens Gage (1863-1917). She was the oldest child of George Manlius and Elizabeth S. (Webber) Gage and a missionary who wrote of political and social conditions in Marsovan, Turkey in 1914. Also of interest are typescript copies of many letters, dated 1849 to 1851, written by Joel Holkins to his wife, Lois Gage Holkins, a niece of Dr. Leander Gage. Holkins wrote in detail of his many fascinating experiences after he sailed to California to join the other Forty-Niners in their search for wealth. The remainder of the collection includes family legal documents, speeches and addresses, poetry of Anne Sargent Gage and other, miscellaneous documents, graphic and printed materials, and extensive genealogical and biographical data, including a genealogical account of Anne Sargent Gage, written by her son, Thomas Hovey.
ArchivalResource:
8 boxes.4 v. ; octavo.1 folder (6 items) ; oversize.
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